Total Eclipse of the Heart
by Aurorarose
Summary: Take the usual new armor scenario, add a fiesty long-time female friend and lots of description, and you've pretty much figured out this story. Trust me, it's good!
1. Enter the Key Figures

Total Eclipse of the Heart ****

Total Eclipse of the Heart   
By: Aurorarose13

****

Chapter One – Enter the Key Figures

The smell of the dew on the grass lingered in the crisp morning air of the low country. The sun had not yet broken the horizon, but the first light of the new day rimmed the edge of the Earth in a watery stretch of canvas. Overhead, Venus glimmered her last – along with accompanying royal court – as the morning would soon overtake her. 

Rowen stared upwards. So beautiful. Sometimes he wished he could return to the heavens and just drift lifelessly in an orbit of the Earth and moon he loved so much. He wanted to let its peace run through his veins once more, for the city was anything but peaceful nowadays. With Talpa in town it was hard to even think such soothing thoughts. If only he could find that serenity once more…

The grass whispered in the meadow as a summer breeze captured its blades in its invisible arms. Rowen felt a presence in the field; he was no longer alone. "She's beautiful, isn't she?" a feminine voice asked dreamily, permeated with thought. Rowen turned his head to the left slightly. "Huh?"

"Venus. I suppose that's why they called her the Goddess of Beauty. Notice how she outshines everything, even the moon. Like an intricately cut diamond."

"Yeah, I've noticed that as well," he answered, shifting his gaze back to the distant planet. "She's quite a sight."

"You know, sometimes I wish I could just fly away from all this, up to space, up to Venus. What I wouldn't give to just escape this Earth some days."

Rowen smiled at his companion's thought. "I know exactly what you mean. We think a lot alike; we always have." Finally, the girl in the mist stepped into the waning moonlight, her face completely in view. Her figure was slight, pale under the white gaze of the moon. Her hair was onyx and gathered in a loose ball on the top of her head. Two red and gold sticks protruded from the ball, their gold leaf ends sparkling faintly as she craned her head. The grin on her face danced softly – fragile and warming – perfectly mirroring her emerald eyes. 

The woman clothed in a crimson and ivory kimono trod lightly to his side, her delicate hand hovering over his shoulder. She breathed deeply, then asked what she had really wanted to all along. "What are you doing here, Rowen? Shouldn't you be in bed?"

"I could ask you the same question, you know. What exactly are you doing here this late, or rather, this 

early?"

The raven bird in the meadow tut-tutted quietly. "I asked you first."

With a heavy sigh of resignation, the lone Ronin turned to face the beauty beside him in the field. "Just admiring the view. I come almost every morning at this time. I like pre-dawn best, when the horizon is aglow with the light of the rising sun, but the heavens are still visible enough for me to see the constellations. There's nowhere quite like this valley to view the show. Besides, you know about my obsession with the sky; it's a part of me, of my armor." She closed her eyes for a moment, absorbing his every word. "Your turn, Mirichu."

It seemed to Rowen that the woman drew into herself, as if desperately seeking a place to hide and avoid answering his question. She looked into the pasture of silver blades slicing the twilight air with their razor edges – a field of katanas and ninjitshu. The wind played upon the dew and stirred her hair with its feathery touch, kissing it with a wet kiss. "I like to look at the stars. Perhaps early morning isn't the best time to see them all, but, like you said, the view is just too spectacular otherwise. And it's the best time to see Venus in her prime." Mirichu glanced up purposefully at the planet to evade his probing gaze. Rowen, with his heightened senses, instantly noticed she was hiding something important from him, but it was clear by the look in her eyes that she merely wanted to watch the sun come up today. And Rowen was going to let her have that fleeting moment in time, when the world seemed to start anew, to herself. She was, after all, searching for that same peace he was.

They watched in perfect silence as an orb of burning red fire set the world aflame with its crimson fingers. Trees as far off as the next town over could be seen trembling in the sizzling glow of the ancient monster, their leaves shaking in a distant breeze. The cliffs that surrounded them melted from black to cherry in an instant to quick to be captured by the eye. The grass around their feet caught fire within seconds, and suddenly the whole world was alight. Shadows retreated into themselves. Animals retreated into the forest. Blackness retreated under the lip of the globe. Life restarted itself. Earth came alive once again and a new day had formed.

Mirichu closed her eyes and drank the fiery light like Chardonnay from the great goblet of the Earth. Rowen, too, soaked up the newness of the world through his exaggerated gasps. Dawns as fabulous as these were a rarity anymore, now that Talpa had come for his revenge.

As silently as she had arrived, Mirichu disappeared into the forest without a word of goodbye. Such is her way, Rowen remarked to himself. Always appearing out of nowhere when she's least expected, then vanishing before I even get to say goodbye! Sometimes I wonder what her true story is…

The Ronin broke from his thoughts when he noticed the glinting orange of a high-up Dynasty gate. Think about her later, Rowen! You've got work to do! 

After quickly adjusting his jacket on his shoulders, he broke into a run and raced to the black serpent that sliced through the woods. His jeep sat there waiting for him, the water of the morn freshly gathered on his windshield. Rowen hopped in and started for home with but one thought on his mind… What was for breakfast, and could he beat Kento to it?

@~~`~~~

Four Ronin Warriors sat meditatively around the breakfast table, soaking up the last of their eggs with their toast. Mia cleared the table as dirty plates and silverware soon covered it. It was completely silent, save the sounds of the forks clinking on plates and Kento's loud munching. "Man, Mia, you sure can cook a breakfast!" Ryo remarked, shoving the last of his roll in his mouth. "I haven't eaten like that since Talpa came to Toyama."

Mia blushed appreciatively. "Why thank you, Ryo. I didn't want to send the Ronin Warriors to any battle on empty stomachs."

"That's what I always say!" the Warrior of Strength blurted happily. Everyone laughed at Kento's remark before returning to his plate. The silence returned, but it was short-lived.

"Where's Rowen?" Cye inquired, staring at the unoccupied seat next to him. 

"Oh, he's probably at that little valley of his," Sage answered. "He's asked me to go with him once or twice, but I value those extra two hours of sleep I get if I don't go."

"Yeah, only Rowen would be crazy enough to get up at four in the morning just to watch the sun rise! Like it's not going to happen tomorrow or the next day!"

"It may not, if Talpa gets his way, Ryo," Mia added sadly from the stove.

"That'll never happen. Earth's got the Ronin Warriors fighting in its corner!"

"Now that's the type of optimism I like to hear, Cye! Talpa doesn't stand a chance against all of us," Ryo added enthusiastically.

Mia sighed wearily, her sleepiness making itself known. "Well, it's a good thing he hasn't decided to launch an attack at this moment because right now you're one Ronin short!"

Kento looked up briefly from his meal to survey the scene. "He better get back here soon if he wants anything to eat."

"Who?" Rowen asked as he entered the kitchen, knowing full well that his friends meant him. "Rowen! Man, where ya been?"

"At the same place I always go to every morning."

"Which is where?" Kento prompted.

"My secret field that only Mirichu and I know about."

Immediately Ryo's ears perked up. "Mirichu was with you?"

"Yeah," Rowen said as he took his seat between Sage and Cye. "Briefly, then she just sorta vanished into the fog. I swear, I have got to tag that girl!" Sage smiled at this comment, for he, too, knew the mysterious ways of Mirichu very well.

"Looks like I gotta rethink this not-getting-up-cos-it's-too-early-in-the-morning thing. Maybe I could come along tomorrow?"

"If you can drag your sorry carcass out of bed that early," Rowen said in such a way as to be jocular, but his tone betrayed him. It was clear in the underneath of his voice that he really had no interest in the company.

"Is she there every morning?"

"No, she just shows up when she wants to. Such is her way…" It was getting obvious that Rowen did not want to talk about Mirichu with Ryo anymore. His face tightened and his normally peaceful eyes grew stormy.

Sensing the growing animosity between the two, Cye interrupted dutifully. "So what's so great about this spot anyway? Why go every morning?"

Boy, how many times had he been asked this question, Rowen wondered. As far back as he could remember, even with his parents, when he'd gone out in the yard to watch the sunrise, they had always asked for the reason he did it. Of course, the answer he had given was never quite sufficient, but he gave it anyway. "I guess the sky is just such a part of me, I can't fight the urge to go out there and see Mother Nature weave her magic. Everything's serene at four o'clock in the morning-"

"That's because everything's asleep!" Kento butted in. "Are you gonna eat that sausage, Sage?" The blonde shook his head no, and in the blink of an eye it was gone, only the white of the plate was left staring at the ceiling.

"Is that why Mirichu goes?"

"You know, Ryo, buddy, I don't exactly know myself. She says it's because she loves the stars and, more importantly, Venus, but I think there's something else she won't tell me."

Ryo arched an eyebrow. "You two have been best friends since kindergarten, and she won't confide that to you. Now, I find that hard to believe."

"So do I, but that's the feeling I get when I'm around her – like she's hiding something from me."

"I've gotten that impression, too," Sage added. "Wonder what it is she won't tell us?"

"Plenty of time to ponder her later," Mia said a bit nastily. "Talpa's who you should be worrying about now. We've got to figure out a way to storm his castle and bring him down. With the fall of Sekhmet yesterday, at least the task should be easier, but there's still three dark warlords to take care of."

"Make that two!" the Ancient trumpeted as he waltzed into the kitchen side-by-side with none other than Anubis.

@~~`~~~

The warriors had now gathered in the living room and were seated in a semicircle about the Ancient and the Warlord. "So," Kento began with a deep breath, "you're saying Anubis isn't evil?"

The white-haired man, whose face was darkened by the shadow of his reed hat, bowed his head. "Yes, Kento of Hardrock, that is what I am saying. Anubis has a good heart; his armor was merely swayed to the dark side by the Dynasty's evil powers." He nodded at his silent companion, who sat looking nervously at his new compatriots. The air was thick and pressing. For a while, no one dared speak.

"But he's tried to destroy us for the last month, and he almost succeeded," Ryo blurted suddenly. The others looked up at him in shock. The air grew thicker and pressed harder. 

"Anubis was the Dynasty's puppet at the time. Through the awesome evil powers of the Nether Spirits and Talpa, his armor was used to try to kill you and take your Ronin armors. But Anubis was never truly evil himself. Now that he has broken free of the Dynasty's grip, he can be a great asset to your battle. Not only do you have one less Warlord to fight, but you have also acquired a very powerful ally."

This time it was Cye's turn to speak. "But how do we know we can trust him?"

"You can't know for sure, but you must trust me. You Ronin Warriors must know that I would never lead you to your destruction." Suddenly the room became a furnace. Rowen began to sweat furiously in his light jacket and shirt. His breathing was erratic and strangled. His stomach knotted into a fist, pulsing and painful. Wheezing slightly, Rowen stood up from the couch and made his way laboriously to the doorway. "Excuse me, guys, I suddenly don't feel very well. I'm going to step outside for a moment."

"Rowen, man, are you okay?" Kento asked, concerned by his friend's raging red face.

"Yeah, I just need to step out for a breath of fresh air; I'll be fine in a minute or so." The blue-haired man disappeared into the hallway – out of sight of the rest of the Ronins – and reappeared on the balcony overlooking the shimmering lake in the valley of the great mountains. The sun had risen high over the sheer bluffs, capping their snowy peaks with a vibrant yellow. Ripples on the icy water glimmered in a rainbow of colors as rays of the piercing light speared the murky depths. The Ginkou trees whispered to the Ronin while the wind crackled their branches. "Come to us, Rowen. We are waiting for you. Come, Rowen, come." He closed his eyes and waited for the waves of nausea to pass through him. The biting mountain wind swooped down to him, kissing his face with its icy lips. Rowen could feel the illness slip from his pores as the breezes captured it and threw it into the air behind him.

"Hey, Rowen? How're you feeling?" Sage questioned as he joined his friend on the patio. "And what happened?"

"I'm not quite sure," he confessed, watching the trees sway rhythmically against each other. "One minute I was fine, listening to the Ancient about Anubis, then wham! I felt like I was going to be sick on the floor."

"Maybe it was something you ate?"

"I'm not sure…" he said thoughtfully, avoiding Sage's eyes as best he could. "Do you believe what the Ancient said?" Rowen kept his gaze steady on the mountains that grew from the fertile land of the valley, mostly on their glinting peaks.

"About Anubis? Sure. I don't trust him yet, but if you don't ever put your faith in anything, you won't get anywhere in life."

Rowen sighed in contemplation. "No, I didn't mean about Anubis. Do you believe that the Ancient would never lead us to destruction? I mean, this is a risky business we're in. A lot could happen."

"It is true, Rowen, that what we do is dangerous, but the Ancient created us. We are Earth's only hopes for the future. He would never lead us intentionally to our deaths."

"Still, I got this sickly feeling when he said that. There's something about it…"

Sage looked curiously upon his companion of many years. He seemed distant, small, like he didn't belong here on the balcony overlooking the valley. Rowen was a fallen star on Earth. "Are you coming back in now?"

"Nah, I'm gonna hang outside for another minute or two. It's too hot in there right now." The wind gusted. Sage shivered. Rowen sighed.

"Okay, I'll tell the others. Oh, and Rowen?"

The warrior turned his gaze from the mountains finally, staring squarely at his blonde friend. "Yeah, Sage?" His eyes cleared, the clouds of confusion parting for a brief second in time.

"Ease up on Ryo, would ya?"

A scowl fluttered across his face. "I don't know what you mean."

"He's a good guy," Sage continued, "and I trust him. He wouldn't hurt her for the world."

"Her who?" Rowen asked innocently, trying hard not to look like he knew what the other Ronin was talking about. He glanced back at the shivering trees, their leaves shaking angrily at the sky. They swayed left, right, left… Hypnotic.

"You know perfectly well her who! Mirichu. She's a big girl now; she can take care of herself. She doesn't need a big brother-type to hang over her shoulder."

"I know that!" Rowen snapped more viciously than he'd intended whilst he spun around to face his surprised companion. Immediately he regretted his reaction, but he couldn't take it back now.

"We both do. We have the scars to prove it." Sage grinned, allaying the other Ronin's fears. "You don't have to be so protective of her. Remember how well she handled us being Ronin Warriors and losing her family and friends? Mirichu can do anything she wants, no problems. Ryo'd be a good match for her. Besides, he really likes her… a lot, and the two of them seem to get along okay."

Rowen closed his eyes painfully, letting the moment fill him. Sage waited patiently for a reply, knowing his friend was waging a battle inside that was hard to explain. "I trust Ryo, too – with my life, everyday. But I can't help this lingering fear that's inside me – that Mirichu's going to get hurt, and not necessarily by Ryo or Cye or Kento or you or anyone for that matter. I fear that I'm the one who's going to hurt her. Me, Rowen Hashiba of the Armor of the Strata. I'm the one who's going to let her down in the end. And there's nothing I can do about it. I've tried to convince myself otherwise, but it never works. I feel like it's my Fate, my destiny to let Mirichu down when she needs me the most."

"Rowen, I know you love Mirichu – so do I – and she knows that as well. She also knows you'd never hurt her on purpose."

"That's not the point. I care even if I don't do it on purpose! I never want to hurt her, period, end of story."

Sage laid a comforting hand on his friend's shoulder. It was all he could think to do to make him feel better. Twice in his life Sage had felt the same way, but to a different degree. He never experienced the type of fear that Rowen did, and he couldn't think how to help. All he could manage to think to do was say what was in his mind. "And you never will. If I'm sure of anything in this unsure world, I'm positive you'll do anything to keep Mirichu from harm. But you can't spoil this chance for her with Ryo. Maybe he's the key to her happiness, and by keeping them from each other you'll only hurt them both. The point I'm trying to make is you can't know for sure. You may be a genius, Rowen, but you're definitely not a psychic. Just think about it, will ya?"

The blue-haired man nodded solemnly. "I will. Thanks, Sage. You're a true friend to the end."

"Anytime, buddy." With that, Sage disappeared through the sliding glass doors and into the house. Rowen returned his gaze to the distance spanning around him. He felt Mother Nature call his name in her sultry, gusty voice. The sky beckoned to him. The Ginkou trees urged him to come forth into their branches and play amidst their leaves. The mountains summoned him with their ancient words from a language long since extinct. Everything wanted a piece of him, and only one could have it. The sky had claimed his soul long ago, but that didn't mean the others didn't want it anyway.

Rowen stepped down from the white deck, onto the stairs that lead to the ground in the valley. Clambering down them, he reached the bottom and headed out on a trek to the glassy lake. On his way to its shores he felt someone come up behind him. Boy, he wasn't getting any alone time today! The Ancient pulled up beside Rowen, stepping in sync with the warrior. The pair walked in the company of silence for a while, taking in the summer scenery that sprouted from the land surrounding them. It was only when they had reached the shade of the Ginkou trees that the Ancient spoke. "Rowen of Strata, what are you thinking now?"

What an odd question the old man asked, thought Rowen. What was it that he wanted to get from him? "Just remarking to myself how beautiful the country around here is. Everything in Toyama seems to know my name, even the trees," he added, glancing up into their green arms.

"I, too, have noticed this calling. What do you suppose it means?"

The Ronin was growing steadily suspicious of the Ancient. He was asking a lot of probing questions as of late. "I don't suppose it means anything. I know all these sounds are in my mind – that nothing is really calling me. They are just inanimate objects."

"Ah, Warrior of the Strata, you lie," the Ancient said, waving a finger in Rowen's face. "You know very well that nothing in this valley is inanimate. Everything has a life, a soul, a purpose, even these Ginkou trees under which we stand. You have a connection with all of these things, more so than any of the other Ronin Warriors. Why must you insist on denying this connection?"

"Because there is none to talk of, Ancient. When I hear the grass call me or the wind whistle my name, I know that it is not really happening. It is true that I may be able to make use of these things and elements when I need to, and I may be able to appreciate them better, but this connection you speak of does not exist."

The graying man shook his head in disappointment. "I thought you of all the others would listen and understand me, but I guess I was wrong. You fool yourself by not accepting this, Rowen of the Strata. It is not a wise decision."

"With all due respect, Ancient, wisdom is not my department, it's Sage's. I focus on life force."

"Exactly!" he shouted, raising a twiggy arm in the air. "Your armor contains the gift of life force; therefore, you should be capable of 'feeling' the life in the things around you. Listen, Rowen of Strata, to the voices inside your armor. Can you not experience the life of the grass on which we stand; can you not hear the cry of the mountains in the distance? They are within you because you are life."

"I hear nothing, Ancient One."

The old man folded his arms across his chest, narrowing his eyes on his companion. "That is because you do not listen carefully enough. Now, shut that big mouth of yours and concentrate on the feelings within you." Rowen closed his eyes reluctantly, the beautiful world around him fading into darkness, nothingness. His breathing slowed and so did his heart rate. All of his other senses immediately intensified. "Now what do you hear?"

"I hear you," he answered facetiously.

"Don't be a wise guy; like you said, that's Sage's job. What do you hear inside?" There was nothing for a moment, as he tried hard to find any sounds. It was when he was about to give up that he heard the calls. Like the sound of children laughing, birds singing, water rushing and crickets chirruping, except in one great symphony. Eventually, other sounds joined in, a fantastic medley of life all playing their musical pieces at once. It became an intense racket shortly, however, and Rowen had to open his eyes. "Ha, ha, ha," the Ancient chortled as Rowen grabbed his ears in pain, their ringing almost loud enough for the old man to hear. "I see you've finally gotten in touch with your spirit."

"What just happened?" he asked, irritated by the Ancient's amusement with his sudden deafness. 

"That would be the Awakening. All of you warriors have it, you were just the last one to receive it."

The Ronin looked in disbelief at his companion. He may as well have been speaking another language because Rowen sure as hell didn't have a clue to the meaning of even one word he said. "What is this Awakening, and how come the others didn't tell me anything about it?" 

Overhead, thunder rumbled as a storm bullied its way over the tops of the mountain range. Slowly, the land faded to blackness, and Rowen could see the gray lines of slanting rain off in the distance. He could hear it fall as well – great, booming pangs against the earth. Already he felt more in touch with nature than he had this morning, just as the Ancient said he would.

"The Awakening is a power bestowed upon all of the armors that 'awakens' the strongest, yet hidden powers within them. This includes the armor of Wildfire's ability to control heat and flame, the armor of Torrent's ability to manipulate the waves and water, the armor of Halo's ability to bend and shape light, the armor of Hardrock's ability to break stone and steel, and the armor of Strata's ability to communicate with life and nature. Everyone knows that the armors posses their own powers, but of what those powers are capable exactly, we are still finding out. The others know about their strengths, but not to the depth that you now do because yours is the most practical and also the most personal. There is so much more to understand about your Awakening for the simple reason that it is more complicated. We have yet to find out the true limit to this power. Even I am not sure of what the armor of Strata is capable. You have been given a great gift, Rowen of the Strata. I expect that you take advantage of it, for it will prove useful in battle and in relationships."

"No doubt. But, Ancient, I wonder why you asked me what I was thinking earlier. Was it because you wanted me to discover the Awakening or did you have another motive?"

The Ancient turned to face the warrior standing under the protection of the tree. He saw a fear in the boy's eyes that he had not seen earlier – a fear that was unlike the kind from which the other Ronins suffered. "Not now, warrior. Let us return to the house before the storm hits."

"But the storm will pass us, Ancient. I can sense that it is not going to strike this valley." Rowen motioned to the clouds tearing the sky into parts.

"I did not mean that storm," he replied cryptically, leading the boy back to the white stairs.


	2. Let the Games Begin

Chapter Two – Let the Games Begin ****

Chapter Two – Let the Games Begin

The dinner table was unusually quiet that night, seeing as the Ronin Warriors shared their meal with Anubis, the former Dark Warlord of Cruelty. No one was comfortable with this new arrangement yet. To the Ronin Warriors he was still their enemy, a member of the Dynasty and an elite warrior for Talpa. The Ancient spent most of the evening staring at the silent warriors, who stared at the Warlord, who stared at his plate, tapping the fork against his glass of milk. 

Rowen sat in his usual seat between Sage and Cye. He wasn't in the mood for talking. He'd been doing that all day, and frankly he was tired of the noise. His ears still hurt a little from when he had first experienced his Awakening, so that didn't help matters much. Rather, Rowen enjoyed the silence at the table. Normally the guys would chatter about the girls they met or the games they played or the ways they trained, but tonight was an exception. With Anubis at the table, they had a new fear – that Anubis would overhear something about their battle plans or would discover a weakness, which he would then report to Talpa to use to take them down. Rowen did not share this fear, for he was busy worrying about all of his own problems, which were almost too many to count.

None of the Ronins, even Sage, knew everything he was worried about nowadays. In the past he used to tell Sage and Mirichu everything that went on in his head, but he kept to himself anymore, not even sharing his troubles with Mirichu. It wasn't that they wouldn't understand, but Rowen couldn't bring himself to say some of the stuff aloud. For instance, he couldn't let Mirichu know that he thought Sage was in love with her. On the same token, he couldn't let Sage know that he thought Mirichu was in love with Ryo. And naturally, he couldn't tell Ryo either of the two things. And naturally he couldn't say anything to anybody about how he was beginning to doubt the genuineness of the Ancient's words. Rowen didn't even understand why he was questioning the old man in the first place. The Ancient had always been their friend and ally, had helped them out more times than there was a number for, so why wonder this now? Rowen had never had reason to doubt the Ancient's motives before, yet he did today. Everything he was thinking now had come about this morning in the field with Mirichu. Why? What was the significance of their chance meeting? Why had it affected him so much?

"Rowen, buddy, you there?" Kento chanted, snapping his fingers to get the Ronin's attention.

"Huh? Whaddya want, Kento?"

"The rice. Pass it here." Rowen obliged and handed the big bowl over to his hungry friend. Everyone watched in amazement as he piled heaps of white rice onto his plate, then smothered it in a sauce of beef and vegetables. A mountain of steaming food gathered in the center of his plate. Within seconds Kento had devoured most of the top. The table stared in awe as the mountain crumbled at the mercy of Hardrock. It got very quiet, then: "Geez, Kento, you're a pig!" Every head turned to look squarely at Anubis in surprise. No one spoke, but suddenly their was great, rolling laughter – tons of it – spewing from Cye's mouth. The Ronins couldn't believe their ears. Genuine laughter. Soon everyone joined in the fun, with the exception of Kento, of course. Sensing his chance, Anubis entered their joke and tried to fit in as best he could without seeming overly flaky. For a while none of the Ronin Warriors even cared; they just went ahead having a good time.

The Ancient leaned back in his chair, folding his arms across his chest. It had taken a while, but it looked like the warriors had finally accepted Anubis for the ally he really was. Now their battle could turn into a war, one that they could win. He was pleased with his warriors' progress. They had come along way from ordinary civilians to the ultimate fighting machines. Should Talpa launch his attack tomorrow, the Ancient was confident they were ready for it. Now that Talpa had but three armors and only two Warlords to fill them, they could counterattack and defeat him! He just needed time to organize the Ronin Warriors and explain their real mission…

The table fell back into silence, this time it was comfortable however. Ryo even dared to speak. "So, Rowen, can I come with you tomorrow morning?"

Rowen tensed, his fork hovering inches from his open mouth. He glanced quickly at Sage for instruction, who gave him "the look" that said don't-disappoint-me-buddy. But even Rowen noticed his friend's evident surprise as well as jealousy. "Tell ya what. If you can get up tomorrow at four o'clock – without complaining – you can come along. But I warn you, Mirichu probably won't be there."

"I don't know if you should lose those hours of sleep, Ryo," Mia cautioned quietly. "If you are going to fight Talpa, perhaps you should stay in bed and conserve your strength."

"Oh, don't fuss so much, Mia. There's not much for me to expend my energy on at four in the morning. Besides, Rowen goes everyday and he's fine. Why don't you ever nag him about it?"

"But he's used to it. And he never gets as much action as you do in a fight." Rowen was a little hurt by her words, but he shrugged them off. 

"I'll be fine, Mia. I'm not a child, in case you couldn't tell."

"Ryo, I-"

But Wildfire was angry now. He was up out of his seat and in the startled woman's face. Forgetting about keeping his guard up against Anubis, he lashed out like never before. "I don't know why you try to shelter me all the time. I'm a 17-year-old man with a 1000-year-old soul! I can handle myself against the Dynasty, so surely I can get up two hours early! You're not my mother and you're not my girlfriend. Now, I don't know what you're attempting to be exactly, but know that the only way I see you is as a friend who has the occasional tidbit of helpful information – that's all it is now, and all it will ever be. So lay off me!"

The room pulsed with emotions of all kinds: sadness, anger, surprise, resentment, amazement. They permeated Rowen's subarmor and coursed through his veins. The Awakening within him had turned itself on like a faucet, full force, raging and powerful. Colors screamed behind his eyelids and the room danced with ethereal light. Ryo's Awakening, too, had been triggered to action, and his choleric emotions bent the flames of the candles on the table, then wound them together, exploding into the air.

Mia sat in her chair, silent tears of pain slipping down her cheeks. Everyone stared at her, at Ryo, at the dead candles. Nothing moved. Then abruptly, Mia jumped up from her seat and dashed out the door, racing down the snowy white stairs to the lake below. All attention turned to Ryo. He shifted uneasily under their gazes, adjusting his blood red subarmor on his body. "Somebody ought to go after her," Sage suggested, staring hard at Ryo.

"I didn't mean to say that. I didn't mean for it to sound so cruel. I just…"

The Ancient stood up and moved to Ryo's shaking side. He laid a hand on his shoulder to sooth the boy. "I'll speak with her, Ryo of the Wildfire. You must go to your room and relax. The Awakening is still strong in you and could potentially cause some harm. Since you cannot control it fully yet, I suggest that you try to block it out for the time being. The rest of you should clean up this table and try to forget what you just saw. It is for the best." The Ronin Warriors nodded and went about clearing the table off. The old man disappeared out the door Mia had, his white robe trailing behind him in a flutter of cloth. 

Ryo balled his fists repeatedly, his frustrations with himself present. "You better go lay down like the Ancient said," Rowen reminded, patting his friend on the back. Ryo bowed his head as he shuffled through the hallway's doorframe. "Are you still gonna come with me tomorrow, Ryo?"

"Maybe Mia's right; maybe I should sleep in, man. Give Mirichu my regards if you see her. Let her know I'm thinking about her."

"I will, buddy." Ryo slipped out of the room completely, his embarrassment because of his behavior hanging in the air behind him. "Poor guy. He's got so much to deal with lately." Rowen spoke these words, but as much as he wanted to commiserate with his friend, he found it hard to believe that Ryo had as much to struggle with as he did. Rowen hated to seem selfish, but he couldn't help feeling the happiness that if Mirichu showed up the next morning he would have her all to himself.

"Yeah, I can't help but feel bad for him. He's never had it easy. Something always has to come and rain on his parade," Cye observed as he placed a dish in the washer. 

The Ronins continued wiping down the table and tiding up the kitchen for Mia. By the time they had finished, the Ancient returned with Mia in tow. Her face was still streaked red with tears, but at least she wasn't crying anymore. She sniffed hello, then vanished into her bedroom, her door snapping shut loudly. They listened. A moment later, the door to Ryo's room opened and so did Mia's. He went in, shutting it again. They listened. When they heard nothing further, the group, accompanied by the Ancient and Anubis, walked to their respective rooms to turn in themselves. No goodnights were issued though they all knew they were implied. 

Rowen breathed the summer air deeply. Their room was filled with it. The sheets were cold with it and the pillows smelled of it and the curtains were ruffled by it. It was glorious. Crickets chirped outside their open window – loud, jarring screeching – but Rowen loved the sound anyway. "Could someone turn those damn things off?"

"Ah, Kento, they're called crickets and they don't have a remote."

"Shut-up, Cye! I knew that. I was just trying-"

"To be cool?" Cye finished, a wicked smile playing on his face.

"No, to be observant. I was merely making the observation that they were too loud."

"Sure you were, Kento, you monkey, you."

"For the last time – I am not a MONKEY!"

"You're right. Ape is more the creature I'm looking for. Either way, it looks to me like you still haven't fully evolved." With that, Kento hopped over the bed to attack his best friend. Pillows were launched across the room, and it took all of Rowen's and Sage's Ronin skill to dodge the projectiles. Cye leaped across Sage's bed, grabbing the sheet and covering Kento with it. The ghost ran around the floor, performing a curious dance as he struggled to get out from underneath the blanket. By the time he shook it off, Kento was too tired to chase Cye anymore, and he collapsed in an exhausted heap on the ground. They all laughed. It felt good to act like teenagers again. 

"Who's ready to turn in?" Sage asked, helping Hardrock to his feet.

"I think I speak for everyone when I say, 'me!'"

"You always speak for everyone, Cye. What makes you think you are always right?"

"Because, monkey, I always am!"

"Oh, shut-up and go to bed. I'm sick of hearing your voice."

Rowen had to say something; the itch to speak was just too great. "I could say the same to both of you!"

"Me too!" Sage laughed, smiling at his blue-haired friend. The other two warriors chuckled sarcastically, then they all climbed into their beds. "Goodnight, guys. Sleep tight." They mumbled their goodnights before almost immediately drifting off to sleep.

@~~`~~~

Snoring, that was all Rowen heard when he awoke from his slumber. Oh, Kento… Rowen thought, sighing. He can never keep his mouth shut even in his sleep. The Ronin swung his feet over the side of his bed, letting them dangle above the cold wooden floor. He rolled his head a few times, loosening the muscles in his neck and shoulders. 

Rowen hated getting up in the morning – a fact all the warriors knew. So why get up everyday at four? Often times, he would ask himself that question. Everything inside him said sleep until noon, but his internal clock just wouldn't let him. Strange that that was the case, but it was. Rowen had never been normal anyway, so why start now?

Venus sparkled outside their open window, winking seductively at the bare-chested man shivering in the air. He smiled back. I'll see you soon enough, he whispered inwardly.

Quickly, Rowen dressed and crept down the stairs to his jeep in the garage. The house was silent otherwise, except for Kento's awful snoring. He started his car and drove down the driveway to the main road shaded by a canopy of cherry trees. Even in the sickly moonlight the trees seemed vibrant and alive. Again Rowen could hear their gentle calling. "Come, Rowen, join our party…" The whisper of the wind, the rustle of the leaves, the sigh of the stars. Everything spoke to him.

The jeep's engine purred like White Blaze as it tore up the onyx asphalt. The impression of the backbone of a winding serpent was conjured in the warrior's mind as he drove onward into the forest. Japan's soft scenery screamed past him in an inky blur. The shapes became shapeless.

Approaching the car fast was an unpaved roadway lined with tiny gray pebbles. They lead into the black oblivion of the night woods. Rowen steered his car to the edge of this pathway to park it. He then proceeded to get out, taking the trail as far as it would go.

How many times in his life had Rowen wandered down this stony path? 200 times? 300? How well he knew every curve in her sleek brown body, every ditch and hole and hill! Even in utter blackness Rowen was confident that he could find his way down the trail to his meadow concealed by a curtain of trees. 

Fireflies clung to the edges of the walkway, their intense glowing lighting the way like street lamps. Strange that they should still be out at this time. Rowen could feel their tiny lives glimmer inside him. They were warm and fluttering – a pleasant sensation for the warrior to experience. He swore he could feel their tiny wings beat inside him as they swarmed about. The steady drone of a cricket set the romantic scene, making everything perfect. 

Above him, the heavens twirled about, too slowly to be seen by the untrained eye, but for those with experience, its mystical swirling was easy to recognize. Rowen watched the distant galaxies spin on their axis – great, dazzling masses of stars and planets still unnamed and unknown. 

The meadow appeared magically, alight with the glow of the moon and the fireflies; Rowen could even see his shadow. The high weeds scraped at his legs, though they could touch no flesh. The swords dueled each other in the ever-present valley breeze. It seemed the field was an ongoing war zone, hot with action between the opposing forces. Fallen warriors scattered the ground, crushed underfoot by the Ronin Warrior. Yet another reason to add to his list of why he felt at home here: the company was familiar. 

Rowen moved to his normal spot in the meadow, where the grass was not too thick and the view was just right to catch the full view of the battle between the sun and the moon when the sun rose from her bed in the east. He joined his fellow stars as bystanders in the great coliseum of the sky, anxiously awaiting the arrival of the golden haired beauty from beyond. There he remained, quietly memorizing the positions of Deneb and Betelgeuse and Vega. 

Movement in the weeds behind him. Instantly Rowen knew who it was. "I didn't think you'd come."

"I didn't expect to." Her voice was soft and sweet like honey. She paused to think, then spoke again. "But I couldn't stay away after what I saw yesterday."

"Yeah, that was the way I felt when I first found this place. But I think you just come because you know I'm going to be here."

"Oh, that must be it, since you're such a babe magnet and all…"

"I know this already. I look in the mirror every morning, come on."

Mirichu rolled her eyes emphatically. "I can think of a lot of words to describe you, Rowen, and babe magnet is not one of them."

"I can think of some, too: sexy, suave, brilliant, debonair."

"Right, if you're Mr. Wonderful, where's your girlfriend? No, I was thinking more along the lines of cheesy, nerdy, obnoxious, conceited…"

"Hey, hey now! Just because I am perfection and I recognize it doesn't mean I'm conceited." Mirichu laughed at him. "Fine, fine. Forget we had this whole conversation. So, Mirichu, how have you been? I haven't seen you around much lately."

"Oh, I'm hanging in there, and I could say the same about you. Where have you been?"

"Busy with warrior stuff. A lot of crazy things have been happening in the household. For example, 

Anubis is now a good guy. And Ryo was supposed to come with me this morning-"

"He was? Why didn't he?" she asked, looking around for the sight of the warrior of Wildfire. 

"Because Ryo had a huge fight with Mia last night. In fact, he got downright cruel. To sum it up, he felt really guilty about what he said to her, so he stayed home."

Mirichu shot him a disappointed look. Rowen hadn't expected such a strong reaction to the news, and he was surprised, to say the least. "I miss him."

The warrior's eyes softened with a sudden sadness for her. She made it sound like there was a wall between her and the Ronin Warriors, one she could not break through. "He misses you, too," Rowen reassured. "He wanted me to give you the message that he's thinking about you."

"I miss all of the guy's, especially Sage. He is our third musketeer. How is he doing anyway? I haven't talked to him in ages, and he's only one of my best friends!"

"Oh, Sage misses you tons, Miri. He talks about you almost as much as Ryo does. Why haven't you dropped by to say hello? We are best friends, you know."

"Of course we are, but I simply haven't had the time." She was lying, Rowen could tell. It was the product of a lifetime of friendship. He knew her inside out, whether either of them wanted to admit that or not. If anything, she had too much time, with her family and friends imprisoned by Talpa and the Dynasty. "Too much to do this week."

"Miri, are you lying to me? Don't you know you can trust me with any secret you have? I promise not to tell Sage." Rowen grinned, hoping that his sense of humor would rub off on her. But she didn't smile back; she didn't even look up at him. Her gaze was fixed elsewhere in the field, on an object he couldn't see from his spot.

Mirichu had found a spider web, complete with spider and insect. She watched, almost terrified, as the arachnid wove its deadly, yet delicate web around the other struggling creature. That was how Mirichu felt now – trapped, with no where to escape. The walls of whiteness closed around her. She couldn't breath. Constricting. Suffocating. Dying. "I know, I know. I have issues, Rowen."

"Well I could've told ya that. You've always had issues," he teased.

But Miri found no humor in the moment. The spider lunged for the paralyzed firefly. It buried its fangs into the abdomen of the crying beast. Could Rowen feel that, she wondered. If he was life, could he not also feel death? "These are different; these are serious. I have had a lot of thinking to do, and I still haven't come to a conclusion on things. I'm sorry, but there's no way you'll learn about them until I've resolved them for myself."

"And how will I know when that is?"

"Trust me, Rowen, you'll know," Mirichu whispered, her eyes moistening with mysterious tears from a hidden pain. She blinked them back fiercely. Noticing her friend was staring intently at her, she attempted to conceal them with words. "It's Venus. She's so bright this morning, she's making my eyes water." Rowen took a step toward her, taking both of her trembling hands in his own. They were cold with fear and hurt. "Oh Rowen!" Miri cried finally, flinging herself into his open arms. "The burdens we bear," she sobbed into his shoulder, "the burdens we bear." He knew all too well what she was talking about. His armor was the greatest weight on his back, sometimes more than he could handle. Rowen was lucky to have friends like Mirichu to support him. Now it was his turn to return the favor. If only he knew what kind of demons she was fighting…

Mirichu cried into Rowen's shoulder until the fabric of his shirt could not hold any more of her tears. "Wanna try the other shoulder now? It may be drier."

The blackbird he held tight against his chest chuckled as she pulled out of his grasp slowly. "Sorry I'm using you for a Kleenex. I don't know what came over me." Carefully, Mirichu rubbed the tears from her reddened eyes.

"That's what friends are for, Miri. You can blow my nose in my shirt whenever you need to."

Her pretty face tightened with disgust. "Gross, but thank you, Rowen, thank you," the green-eyed angel whispered genuinely, not meaning it for his last comment. "I don't know what I'd do without you."

"Probably live a lonely, miserable life," Rowen suggested jocularly.

"Don't flatter yourself, buddy. Your shoulder could have just as easily been Sage's or Ryo's," she countered, knowing that there was no way that could ever be. Rowen would always be the one she ran to up until the last moment of her life. With no one else would she ever be able to be this free. 

Welcoming her back into his arms, Rowen said, "Come here." He hugged her as hard and as long as he could, before he spoke again. "It'll be all right, Miri. You'll see."

"No," she whispered meekly, cryptically, as she pressed her forehead into his thick neck, "it won't; it never will be."

"Why do you say such horrible things like that? Don't you know that I'll do anything to protect this planet and these people on it, especially you? Don't you trust in the other Ronin Warriors and me? We're gonna take care of Talpa and his twerps really soon. Why can't you believe that?"

Mirichu wrenched out of Rowen's grip and stared back at him with that concealed hurt and loss. "I do believe that! I know you'll take care of the Dynasty, but…"

"But what? What's bothering you? Why won't you tell me?" Rowen had reached near screaming level. His voice echoed hollowly in the hills just beyond the tree line. Mirichu drew back in fear. That wasn't the response he'd desired! He didn't want to scare her, just get her to tell him what was wrong so he might help. "I'm sorry, Miri. I didn't mean to get so worked up. Can you forgive me?" Now the warrior was as afraid as the innocent. He couldn't live with himself if he'd hurt her.

"Yes, fine. I forgive you. Can we just watch the sunrise in silence like we did yesterday?"

Naturally, after what he'd said, Rowen wasn't going to deny her request. Besides, sometimes the best conversations weren't had with words. He nodded, his heart relieved. 

Mirichu kept her eyes fixated on Venus while Rowen watched the sky behind the hills begin to glow yellow and orange. And it started all over again. The sky became the canvas of God as he painted another masterpiece to be kept in the museum in Rowen's memory. It was hung in the halls where every other fantastic sunrise he'd ever viewed was placed. Then, just as she had arrived yesterday, Mirichu left, saying no good-byes or even looking at him. 

Rowen set out for his jeep, taking the path through the woods now lit with the light of the new sun. He left behind the dueling swords, the swarming fireflies and his minute clearing. But never would he erase from his mind the memory of Mirichu's tears or the wetness of his shirt after she'd finished. Something terrible was going on in her life, so bad she refused to tell her best friend! Poor Miri, Rowen thought. I have to find out what's wrong so I can help her…

@~~`~~~

The road remained blackened from the thicket of trees, despite the fact that the sun had come up already. Occasionally, a patch of brilliant white light would force its way through the canopy to illuminate the road, but it was rare. To Rowen, it still seemed like nighttime. He slowed his car and turned on his headlights. Can't be to careful when driving through the woods at night, he cautioned himself. He was to find out this was a very wise decision.

Something swung down suddenly from an overhead branch. It was spider-like in nature, and twice as ugly. Dais. Rowen's car came screeching to a halt right before the Dark Warlord could drop onto the hood of his jeep. The monster straightened from his fallen position, growing in size and power. The blades projecting from his back gleamed in the only spot of light for miles that reached the forest floor. He smiled wickedly. "So, we meet again Ronin Warrior. But where are your friends?" Rowen stepped out of his car, but he did not reply. "I see. Alone, then. Excellent. I have always wanted to go one-on-one with the only Ronin who could ever see through my deceptions."

"Bring it on, Dais. I'm ready for you," he informed, his subarmor immediately appearing on him. 

The Warlord grinned at the boy in blue. "And so it begins… 

"Web of Deception!" Tiny white, spidery lines surrounded Rowen, twisting and grabbing and pulsing with energy. He was disoriented for only a second, but it was enough time to allow Dais to make his move. The spider man lunged for Rowen, his detachable legs on his back flying at his face at lightning speed. If Rowen had not felt the Awakening within him stir at the life in Dais, the razor sharp blades surely would have speared him. 

"Is that all you've got, Warlord?" Strata taunted, shredding the crystalline web that encompassed him.

"You're going to hope so by the time we're through."

"Somehow, Dais, I highly doubt the validity of that statement." Rowen stepped back, moving into transformation position. "Armor of Strata! Dao inochi!" Suddenly, the warrior within was uncovered, and Rowen was draped in a suit of blue and gold. Now he stepped into the sliver of sun and watched as her rays traced the line of his golden bow. 

The expression of triumph on Dais' face mysteriously melted into one of confusion, if not fear. Dais retreated into the forest magically, leaving Rowen to wonder what had frightened him so. The Warlords were not easily scared…


	3. Best Laid Plans

Chapter Three – Best Laid Plans ****

Chapter Three – Best Laid Plans

The Ronin Warriors gathered in their living room again, with Mia, Yuli, Anubis and the Ancient on hand for the discussion. White Blaze was there, too, watching protectively over Ryo. "And as I was driving down the road, that's when he appeared from the tree. He almost would have caught me by surprise had it not been for my Awakening."

"What did he want?" Ryo asked, his eyes narrowing with thought.

"What do ya think he wanted? Dais wanted my armor. But we didn't have much time to talk about it. I was too busy getting ready to kick his butt."

"Well, did ya, Rowen?" inquired an eager Kento.

Rowen sat back into his seat on the couch. "Now that's the funny thing. As soon as I transformed and got into battle position, he headed for the hills, literally."

"Maybe he was scared of you," Sage suggested. "You are pretty scary."

"Ha ha, Sage. No, I don't know why he left, but I have a funny feeling I don't want to."

From the corner, the old man in the reed hat stirred. His golden staff beside his leg jangled slightly as he straightened. "You are right to be wary of Dais, Rowen of Strata. Most assuredly he has something up his sleeve. Perhaps he felt your newfound power as well. You said you used your Awakening, correct?" Rowen nodded that he had. "Yes, I see. Then maybe Dais has returned to the Dynasty to tell Talpa that you Ronins have finally discovered another secret behind your armors – the secret of the Awakening. 

"Now is the time you must be on guard constantly. Talpa will try anything to take away your new powers from you. He will surely want to possess all of your Awakenings."

Sage tilted his head in confusion. The others did almost the same thing at the same time – the Ronin connection. "But, Ancient One," he began to question, "how could Talpa get what's inside of us? I mean, the Awakening is like a ghost in our bodies, isn't it?"

"True, Sage of Halo. But what you do not understand is that the Awakening is not just a part of your armor, but also your spirit. If Talpa can get a hold of you and your armor, he will literally wrench the soul from your body by any means necessary."

"Well, that does NOT sound pleasant," Kento observed. 

"And it isn't," Anubis explained, speaking up for the first time since last night. "I've seen him do it to regular humans before. It is a most painful process for the person, which involves tearing the physical body into confetti, then magically removing the spirit for assimilation into yourself. The actual death isn't even the most painful part; the afterdeath is what really hurts."

"Afterdeath?" Cye asked, looking about confusedly. "Tell me I'm not the only one who's lost here." The other Ronin Warriors shook their heads that he wasn't.

"Normally, the soul goes up to Heaven or some form of the place after the body has died. It is there that the spirit is able to find eternal rest and everlasting peace. But when the soul is kidnapped from the body right before death and eaten, if you will, it can never reach that peace. Instead, it will suffer an eternity of torment while remaining in a state of limbo inside the person who stole it. Truly, it is a Fate worse than Hell itself."

The room quieted. The Ronins were in a state of shock. All that could be heard was the pounding of their hearts – like Apache war drums on the bluffs. Thumpa! Thumpa! Thumpa! Mia got up to answer the front door, only to realize that the sound wasn't a knocking, just the Ronins collective hearts pounding out of fear and disgust.

The Ancient surveyed the room with his eagle eyes. "Now, Ronin Warriors, do you see why we must find Dais immediately? We must know why he abandoned his fight with Rowen of the Strata so expediently."

"All right then, guys, let's get moving on this ASAP! First, we have to find out where Dais ran off to after he left," Ryo instructed.

"Isn't it obvious? He went back to the Dynasty to tell Talpa. I thought we already established that?"  


"Yeah, Kento, we did, but how'd he get there?"

"Couldn't he just do that teleporty-thingy he always does? That gets him back really fast."

From over in the front door came a sultry voice carried on a whistling breeze. "He could do that, but that's not what Dais did this morning." She stood outlined by the rising sun, her silhouette – a striking figure of the perfect woman – glowing midnight black on sanguine red. Her hair curled around her slender neck with feathery fingers and ravaged the air behind her, cutting the sky into a million pieces. She relaxed against the doorframe before entering the stunned room.

All heads turned at once, and Sage, Ryo and Rowen shouted in unison, "Mirichu!"

Her eyes widened at the unusual greeting. "Good to see you fellows, too!" Mia frowned enviously at the beauty, who had mystically appeared in her house, because she had captured all of the boys' attention away from her, previously the only woman.

The Ancient disregarded his warriors' behavior for the more important issue of the moment. "What do you mean 'that's not what he did?'"

Mirichu gladly elaborated. "As I was walking home through the woods, I saw what I thought – and correctly thought, mind you – was Dais climbing up a tree over the roadway. Not knowing what was going on, I waited to see what he would do. Then, when I saw Rowen's jeep rounding the corner, I immediately knew what he had planned. I was getting ready to attack him from behind–"

"You were going to ambush Dais?" Rowen started in disbelief and anger.

"Are you crazy?" Ryo finished, equally as disbelieving and angry.

"You could have been hurt!" Sage added, putting his hand to his forehead in surprise.

"What is this, the Big Brothers Unite meeting? I was trying to help Rowen! Anyway, I never got the chance, if makes you three happy. But I hung around in case Rowen would need back-up, and it was a good thing I did," she emphasized proudly, "because I know where Dais skittered off to, as none of you genius warriors seem to."

The old man jumped up from his chair in his excitement, knocking over his mysterious staff. Quickly, he retrieved it, silently smiling wryly to himself because his hat was just big enough to cover the embarrassment on his face. "Excellent, Mirichu! Please enlighten us."

"Well, at least somebody approves of my tactics! There's this cave in the foothills of the Great Mountains, disguised by the surrounding layers of igneous rock. It's impossible to locate by the naked eye because of the terrain and an illusion Dais has created for its protection."

Rowen narrowed his eyes at Mirichu, a shade of disapproval in their depths. "Tell me you didn't follow him inside the cave."

"Sorry, but I had to." Rowen bowed his head, sighing resignedly. "You know me better, Rowen. Remember, always impetuous."

Kento saw his chance to make his own move. "A girl after my own heart. Can you cook, Miri?"

Once again in unison, Sage, Rowen and Ryo cried, "Kento!"

"What?"

Cye chimed in after remaining quietly sitting in the corner for almost the entire conversation. "Excuse me, guys, but could we keep on subject here? This is very important if we are going to nail Talpa before he nails us."

"Thank you, Cye," Mirichu said, smiling her sweetest in his direction and winking at him.

He blushed furiously at the female attention he had received. "Na… no problem."

"Oh brother," Mia whispered under her breath. Then, in her most sugary voice, which also happened to be the one coated with arsenic, she turned to the other woman. "Miri, dear, where can we find Dais?"

"Well, since Dais is the Dark Warlord of Illusion, you have to be extremely careful not to get caught up in his traps inside the cave. There are thousands of different ways to get lost, and even more ways to get killed. The only way you'll manage to get to his home base is…"

"Oh no," Rowen began, shaking his head roughly. "If you're gonna say what I think you're gonna say, you may as well put that thought in the garbage disposal along with all your other insane ideas!"

"It's the only way! I couldn't give you the correct directions from memory if my very life depended upon it," Mirichu protested, swinging her silken black hair seductively over her shoulder.

"Funnily enough, luv, it does."

"What are you two talking about?" wondered a very intrigued Cye.

"Mirichu wants to physically show us how to get to that spider's lair. She expects to come along."

In a great chorus, similar to the sounds that Rowen heard when he experienced his Awakening for the first time, the Ronin Warriors sang their verdict. "No way!"

"And just why the hell not?" Mirichu barked, her hands resting sternly on her hips. "Mia always gets to come along and she's a girl, so don't even give me that lame excuse!"

Sage was the first to answer. "Because you have no experience with battle…"

Then Ryo said, "And you've never used a weapon…"

Cye added, "And you won't know what to expect…"

Rowen threw in his two cents, too. "And you're as foolhardy as they come, almost worse then Kento…"

"Hey!" Kento yelped. "Oh yeah, and you're a girl!"

Yuli ventured out of his corner and into the middle of the fuss, taking Mirichu's feminine hand in his own tiny hand. "I think you should let Miri go."

"And why is that, Yuli?" asked Mia, bending down to his level.

"Because she's pretty and she'll distract Dais long enough for you Ronin Warriors to kick his butt!" Oh, not you too, Mia griped to herself, leading the boy off of the floor.

"See? I'm useful."

"Yeah," Sage mumbled, "so says a little kid."

"Well, I'm sorry, boys, but you're not finding Dais without me to help!" Mirichu folded her arms resolutely and stood her ground amongst the five anxious warriors. Obviously, five muscular men, who also happened to be ancient warrior, didn't scare her any. They actually looked nervously at each other, silently conferencing about what they should do.

"The way I see it, you fellas don't have another option to pick from; they've all been exhausted. You want Dais, and Mirichu's the key. And she's got you right where she wants you, so you may as well give in to her. It appears there is no other way."

"Anubis is right, you know. It's my way or the highway," she said, gesturing behind her.

Rowen exhaled heavily. Mirichu had always gotten her way with him when they were little kids, even in kindergarten; what was so different from nowadays? There was simply no way around this impasse. How was it that one woman could always manage to manipulate him so? No matter. Miri had done it, and he and the other Ronins were merely going to have to live with it. "Very well, you can go, if – and only if – you promise to stay in the middle-"

"But, Rowen, how can I lead if I'm in the middle?"

"You're just going to have to, otherwise we'll find another way to get to Dais' place that doesn't involve you. This is the only way I'll feel at least mildly comfortable with the thought of you coming along – if you are protected by us."

"Fine, when shall we leave?" The entire room turned to the Ancient One, who sat observing the argument between the pair of best friends. The bemused smile on his lips made the two flush.

"You must go tonight, whilst the spider sleeps."

"Aren't you supposed to let sleeping spiders lie, or something along that line?"

Cye raised an eyebrow in amusement. "That's dogs, Kento!" The Ronin Warriors erupted into laughter once again, even managing to get the sullen Mia to smile faintly.

"Well, guys and girl, let's get cracking on our attack plan and get ready to kick some arachnid ass!" Everyone acted enthusiastic and positive about his future adventure, but Rowen was the only one to openly frown. He didn't want Mirichu coming along on their quest that was already fraught with all kinds of danger. It was like walking her blindfolded into the chilling arms of Death. Ryo and Sage had their reservations too, but, unlike Rowen, they were attempting to keep a lid on them. It wasn't like they'd change Miri's mind anyway, so what was the point?

As they were prepping one another, the Ancient approached Mirichu and pulled her aside, whispering something in her ear that led her to follow him out onto the verandah. Rowen watched as the pair spoke briefly, then walked together down the ivory steps to the lake – just as he had last night. Their black shapes faded into the scenery as Rowen stared until the sun burned his retinas. Strange. What were they talking about? "Where are those two going?" he asked Anubis, who was watching them as well.

"I am not sure exactly, but the Ancient said he had to talk about something very important with Mirichu. He told me not to concern myself with it too much though."

"Still, what could that possibly be? The Ancient doesn't even know Miri. Today was the first time they met… at least to my knowledge."

"Don't look at me. I'm a new guy here myself. The Ancient One is as much a mystery to me as he is to you," Anubis informed, glaring at the Great Mountains in the distance.

I know he is, thought Rowen, but he's not the one who's the mystery to me anymore…

@~~`~~~

Down by the crystal lake, beneath the house of the Ronin Warriors stood Rowen, Warrior of the Strata. He had come down to the shore after Mirichu and the Ancient One had returned. The conversation he had held with his best friend following their reunion had brought him here, to his thinking spot amongst the Ginkou trees. Her words were still burned fresh in his mind.

"What was it that the Ancient had to say to you that he couldn't say to the rest of us?"

"Exactly what you just stated, something he couldn't say to the rest of you."

"Was it that important?"

"More so."

"Shall we talk about it later tonight then – after the fight – or tomorrow morning in our meadow."

"Neither time, actually, because I can't tell you… not now."

"What? But, Miri, you tell me everything! I'm your best friend."

"Rowen, I just can't… I swear, someday in the future I will tell you, but, where you keep necessary secrets from me, so must I from you. I regret doing this to you, but it must be done. Farewell, until tonight, luv." And with those lashing words, Mirichu kissed him on the cheek, her hidden tear colliding hotly with the skin that she had just brushed with her silky lips.

Why was she acting like this! the warrior mused angrily. Mirichu had always been as candid with him as anyone could be. Now, suddenly, she was a different woman. She wouldn't confide in him like she used to, and she wouldn't smile at him like she used to either. It was like she was the body of the woman he knew, but the soul of a woman he didn't.

Rowen hated not knowing all things. He had no control over the unknown, and he hated not having control. Perhaps he was spoiled, but when Rowen couldn't command a person or situation, he felt lost and helpless. 

So, now here he sat, on his tiny boulder shaded by the whimpering trees, wishing he could just turn back the clock to when he and Sage and Mirichu were all small children, playing on the asphalt at the school with their bouncy ball. Rowen wanted the closeness that they had shared back again, this time forever. He wanted no part of Talpa and his Dynasty; he wanted to destroy this armor; he wanted to rid himself of this infernal Awakening. Rowen desired his youth and nothing more.

A frog jumped from the shore of the lake, the ripples it created spreading slowly outward to the land. All else was still in the valley. It was so hushed in the lowland that he could hear his friends – all the way back up at the house – chattering excitedly about what they were going to do to Dais tonight. "Crush him!" "Murder him!" "Knock him into next week!" "Show him who's boss!"

Oh, and that was something else entirely. Now they had to challenge Dais on his own turf. It wouldn't even have bothered Rowen so much (in fact, he'd probably be just as eager as the other guys were now) if Mirichu weren't coming along. She was marching right to her demise if she accompanied them, but, for some reason, she didn't seem to either notice or care. And the scary thing was Rowen thought that it was the latter. He got the vibe that Miri wanted Death to come to her, and he didn't know why that was. He just prayed it wasn't true.

The Ginkous called him. "Rowen… Why won't you come play with us? We're waiting for you…" The life within the trees burned strong, so much so that he could feel the fire of the life inside him, too. It was warm and comforting in the valley wind that swooped down from the Great Mountains. Rowen, despite all the pain he experienced because of Miri, smiled. There was nothing that an hour in the valley couldn't cure. Except maybe broken friendships…


	4. New and Used Strategies

Chapter Four – New and Used Strategies ****

Chapter Four – New and Used Strategies

It was finally the evening of the great battle. The warriors had all changed into their subarmors, feeling the power of their Awakenings race through them, but also feeling the fear of the battle in their veins. The troop gathered in the study to iron out their strategy for the attack, a mish-mash of colors: red, green, dark blue, light blue and orange. Mirichu was also there, adding her color of lavender to the mix. White Blaze laid on the floor nearest the Ancient, carefully eyeing Anubis.

"Okay," Ryo began, spreading out a map of the surrounding terrain, "show us where approximately we can find the cave, Miri."

Brushing a stubborn lock of black hair from her face, the grinning woman pointed to a mountain on the edge of the map. "There, in the hills just preceding that mountain."

"You're sure?"

"Positive. See here?" she asked, circling a portion of roadway with her slender finger. "That's where Dais attacked Rowen, isn't it?" The dark blue warrior nodded solemnly. "Okay, so this is the stretch of woods he vanished into, and we walked in this direction then, toward those hills, right up into the cave. Clear?"

"Crystal. Anything else we're missing?"

"Not that I can think of. I believe we're ready to launch our strike." Mirichu grinned happily. She was getting her chance to prove herself to Rowen. After tonight, she was not going to be known as a weak little girl anymore.

Ryo grabbed Miri's hands, holding tightly in his own hot hands. "Are you sure you want to do this? Do you really think you can handle it?"

"Absolutely! I never have been more ready for anything in my life. Come what may; rain or shine, I'm ready to kick ass!"

"No way, Miri! There will be no ass kicking for you. Leave that to us professionals."

"If you think I'm missing out on the action, Sage, because you want to keep me a sheltered little child, forget it! I'm taking home a leg of that spider tonight, whether you guys want me to or not." Mirichu placed a finger on Sage's chest and jabbed it hard enough so that even through his armor he could feel it. "Understood?" She smiled curtly at him, then turned to face the map again.

"Will you marry me, Miri," Kento asked, still in shock that she was as headstrong for battle as he was, "because I could swear we are kindred spirits."

Ryo glared at the orange warrior, making it known that Mirichu was claimed already. Kento smiled weakly at his friend, showing him it was just a joke. Still, Ryo moved closer to the beautiful woman and placed his arm around her shoulder. "Don't go doing anything crazy in there, you hear me? I don't want you to get hurt, but I do want you to have a little fun. Tell you what, I'll let you throw a punch or two."

"Really, Ryo? Rowen would never let me near the guy," she commented, sticking her tongue out her best friend, who returned the gesture. 

"That's because, unlike my friend Ryo here, I'm not a fool in love, trying to make you happy so you'll like me better."

Ryo blushed the color of his armor and turned to smack Rowen in the arm. "Shut-up! You don't know what you're talking about. I'm not in love!"

"And my name isn't Rowen!"

Mirichu laughed at the chagrined boy in red while moving to pat him on the shoulder. "Just ignore him. Hopefully he'll go away."

"Fat chance! Knowing you, Miri, if I weren't here to watch your every move, you'd already be in Dais' cave, trying to fight him off."

"Actually, I guess you don't know me that well, Rowen, because if you weren't here, I'd be having a party right now – I'd be so happy."

Cye chuckled in the corner of the room. "You two sound like you're married."

Ryo shot Cye a look like he did for Kento. The warrior of the Torrent shut his mouth, but the smirk remained on his child-like face. "While we're ignoring Rowen, can we also ignore Cye?" he asked the smiling girl.

"We can do whatever you like, honey.

"Now, back to this map. From which direction do we plan to attack?"

Sage stepped forward and shared his idea. "What if we were to come up from the south, but instead of charging straight in from the west, like Dais would probably expect, we circle around, and from behind we enter. That way, he can't see us coming since we won't be coming right at him."

"That's exactly what I was thinking, Sage! If we attack from behind, then maybe we'll be fortunate enough to avoid most – if not all – of Dais' traps."

"Good point," Cye agreed, imagining the battle scene in his head.

"I knew I kept you around for some reason," Sage smiled at Mirichu.

Ryo stepped into the center of the circle of warriors, a grin playing on his handsome face. "Well, if it's decided then, let's get moving!"

Mia stepped into the room wearing all black clothing, even sunglasses. "I'm ready!" she chirped, modeling her outfit for the boys. It was all they could do to keep from bursting out laughing at the show. Mirichu raised an eyebrow. Boy, she was acting like a chittering high school dropout.

"For what? A coffeehouse poetry reciting?" queried Ryo, humored by her appearance.

"For the battle with Dais, duh-uh! This way I can sneak up on him unnoticed."

"Oh no…" Rowen sighed, thinking: Not another one…

"You're not going to, Mia. Forget it!" 

"But, Ryo, she's going! Why can't I? I always come anyway!"

Wildfire chewed his lip to bite back the aggravation. "Her name is Mirichu, not she, and the only reason we're letting her go is because Mirichu is the only one who can lead us in there. Otherwise, we'd get lost in Dais' labyrinth of tunnels."

"Excuse me?" Mirichu erupted. "Letting me go? You didn't have another choice. The way I see it, I'm the one who's letting you guys go."

Anubis smirked at the woman. She was a clever one. "Once again it appears that the Queen of Hearts has the Ace in her hand."

"Shut-up, Anubis," Rowen barked.

"We won't have enough time to fight Dais and his minions, protect Mirichu and you, too, Mia," Cye informed honestly.

"Well, I'm not sitting here and playing babysitter for Yuli again!"

"You'll have to. The Ronin Warriors are going to have enough responsibilities as it is."

Mia and Mirichu stared hard at the man in crimson. Without knowing it, the pair chorused, "So I'm just another responsibility, am I?" They turned to look at each other, shock that they were thinking on the same level appearing on their porcelain faces. Even the guys stared wide-eyed at the two, frequently bickering women.

"He didn't mean that!" Cye defended.

"Yeah, I didn't mean that! No!"

"Fine then, I see how it is. This responsibility is going to her room!" The shadow girl spun out of the room gracefully, anger filling her vacant spot in the corner. Somewhere in the house a door slammed shut. 

"Not again… Mia," Ryo shouted to air, "we'll talk about this when I get back. I'm sorry!

"Why does everything have to be so hard with that woman?"

"Because, Ryo, you don't understand women at all, especially that one."

Cye turned to comfort his friend. "It's okay, buddy. If it makes you feel any better, none of us do."

"Speak for yourself, Cye! I know a lot about the female species." Mirichu narrowed her eyes at Kento in disbelief while all the guys simply grinned. 

"That's because you are one!" Sage jested, punching the man in orange in the arm.

"Shut-up, Sage! At least I'm not the one with the girly hairdo."

"My hair is not girly!"

"Then how do you explain that feminine swoop that always covers your one eye?"

"Swoop?" Rowen laughed, evoking a similar response from Miri.

"I think it's sexy," she said, moving to put her arm around her friend's shoulders and brushing the hair with her fingers.

"Thank you, Miri. See that, monkey? Sexy."

"Go to hell."

Rowen slid over to Kento and Sage. He forced himself between the two and smiled. "Ladies, ladies! Stop this madness now. Save the fight for Dais."

"Speaking of Spiderman…," Ryo said. "Are we all ready to go?"

"As we'll ever be," answered Cye.

"Good, then let's kick it!" Ryo led the group – Rowen, Sage, Kento, Cye, Mirichu and White Blaze – down to Rowen's jeep sleeping in the garage. After being wished the best of luck by the Ancient and Anubis, the Ronin Warriors, with the exception of Ryo, who rode White Blaze, piled into the car and sped into the velvet night.

As he steered the vehicle in the direction of his secret field, Rowen remarked to himself what a beautiful night it was. The stars were growing in their celestial garden – full bloom – their diamond-like petals spreading with the progression of night. How he wished he could take the time to look at them and admire their brilliant light. "Not tonight, luv," Miri whispered from the passenger seat, noticing the longing look in his silken eyes.

Approaching the car was the bend in the road where Strata met Illusion. Rowen slowed to a halt just before the curve, signaling Ryo and White Blaze that this was the place. The warriors filed out, hushed among the summer woods. 

Miri silently instructed them to follow her lead, and they did a little fearfully. She dragged them through undergrowth of all types and over rocks slick with slime and between trees withering with old age. A couple times she stopped because she thought she heard something, and the entire group tensed with anxiety. Their entire adventure was no good if the surprise was lost.

Gradually, the trees ceased their bombardment on the troop and the pathway cleared to reveal the base of one of the mountains in the great chain. The surface of the hill was barren and porous, tiny holes sprouting left and right. So many places to conceal a cave. Mirichu led them across the face of the hillside then up a bit so that they could see the whole valley from where they now stood. 

The land spread before them like the arms of a god showing them all Earth had to offer. The Japanese countryside spanned around Rowen, his meadow, along with many other people's private meadows, dancing in the light of the moon. Even from this distant vantage point, Strata could see the swords in his valley still fighting till their last breaths. 

Mirichu motioned for them to slowly make their descent. They crept steadily downward until she waved for them to stop. Still high above the rest of the world, the Ronin Warriors circled around a larger hole in the side of the foothill and stopped outside to conference. "Do we knock?" hissed Kento eagerly.

"Look's to me like the door's open," Rowen commented almost inaudibly. 

They filed in like burglars, Ryo, Rowen, Mirichu, Sage, Cye, Kento and White Blaze – in that order – sneaking in without so much as the squeak of a shoe. Rowen and Sage practically sandwiched Miri between their two bodies, and Ryo asked if she was okay punctually every minute. "Truly, you guys, I'm fine, and I will be fine!"

"Keep your voice down," scolded Rowen. 

They came to the first intersection in their journey. Seven different tunnels led off in seven completely different directions. Already the Ronins were beginning to feel disoriented. "Which one should I take?" Ryo questioned, glancing uneasily about the cavern.

Miri seemed to think before she answered. "Tunnel No. 4, from the left. There!"

"You're sure?"

"Positive," she assured.

They headed down the blackened path, White Blaze growling every so often at a shadow or two. Of course, that didn't soothe the warriors' nerves any. "Why do I get the feeling I'm being led to my doom?" Sage implored to Miri quietly. The only person to hear what Sage had asked was Rowen. He shivered involuntarily at his buddy's words, recalling the feeling he had experienced yesterday at the Ancient One's comment.

"Don't you trust me enough to know that I wouldn't lead you to your demise?"

"Sorry, of course I trust you. I'm just a little jumpy, that's all."

"We all are, man," Kento rasped from the back.

They arrived at the next fork in the road. "Left or right?"

"Left, Ryo, then make almost an immediate right. Do not go straight, okay." Ryo entered the hallway, and instantly there was a sickening smack reverberating down the charcoal-black corridor. Mirichu stifled a laugh, for without even seeing what had happened, she knew what Ryo had done. "I said ALMOST an immediate right, not immediate! That's real wall!"

Ryo's head peered around the corner, a big, fat frown plastered on his face. His hand was busy rubbing his nose. He growled under his breath at her. Try as she might, though, Miri simply couldn't conceal the impish grin on her face. The warriors chuckled quietly, still on guard. "Keep moving," insisted Rowen, smirking a special smirk at Miri.

"Are you sure this is where we have to turn? There is nothing but wall, as I've already demonstrated."

"Yes, this is the place. Put out your hand and see for yourself." Wildfire did and to his amazement discovered that the wall was merely an illusion. Once he felt it safe, he went through, peeping his head back out to tell the others it was all clear on the other side. One by one they went through the wall and appeared on the other side only to discover more trail. "Told ya. Geez, you guys are more nervous than a teen idol in a room full of obsessed high-school girls." Rowen stared at her as if to ask, "what was that?" She merely smiled her most charming smile and pushed him onward.

"Ours is a healthy fear," informed Cye.

"How much further?" Kento whined typically.

"I believe there is only one more bend and we should be in the mouth of Dais' lair."

Sage joked seriously, "Is that supposed to be good news?"

"Why do I get the feeling…" Rowen began.

"That Dais knows we're coming?" Ryo finished. They made the last turn. 

"Because I do!" Dais launched himself from above the entryway, swinging down on a string of webbing. Ryo dodged the ambush by diving to the floor in the cavern, leaving Rowen open to attack. He never missed a beat. The warrior of Strata reached instinctually into his quiver and extracted an arrow, aiming it directly at the bit of silk that suspended the Warlord to the roof and sending him sprawling to the floor in a tangle of legs and arms.

"Behind you, Kento!" Ryo ululated when he saw what was coming up behind them.

The orange warrior whirled around to discover over a dozen or so Dynasty soldiers lumbering down the tunnels to cut them off from escaping. They propelled their spears at Cye and Kento, quickly dividing up the two of them. 

Returning his attention back to Dais, Rowen prepared to charge the fallen spider. "Watch Miri, Sage. Keep her safe – and I mean from herself, too!"

"I will!" Sage shouted to his friend, who already had his sights set on the Warlord.

"I'm counting on you!" Rowen yelled loudly as he charged Dais, spinning his bow above his head, then thrusting it downward like a sword. Dais rolled out of the way right when the butt of the bow came screaming down inches from his face, slamming into the stone with a deafening boom. Shards of the rock splattered against the Warlord's armor, a piece even grazing the skin of his upper cheek. A trickle of blood leaked down his face and onto the collar of his suit of armor. 

Angrily, Dais rose from the floor and ran – like a train – straight into Rowen's body, pinning him helplessly against the wall. "You will pay for that!" His hand shot out and tightened about Rowen's neck, squeezing and lifting him off of the floor at the same time.

"Rowen," Miri screeched as she ran to help him. Sage caught the hem of her shirt and wrenched her backwards, into his arms.

"Don't even think about it!"

"But Rowen's in trouble!" she protested, on the verge of tears.

"Ryo will help him. See?" he soothed, pointing to the red warrior sneaking up behind Dais.

The warrior of Wildfire raised his hands above his head and raced toward Dais, pounding him as hard as he could at the base of his neck with his fists. The spider screamed out in pain, dropping Rowen and crumbling to the floor. 

While Ryo battled Dais with all of his might, Cye and Kento were having troubles of their own. The number of soldiers had nearly doubled in the last minute, and replacements for the fallen ones arrived within the minute they fell. "Sage," Cye called, "could you lend us a hand here… please?"

Sage looked quickly between Miri and his friends, debating whether or not to leave her by herself. "Listen to me, you move from this spot, and I swear, if Dais doesn't kill you first, I'll finish the job!" Mirichu nodded in agreement, but the second he turned his back, she was off and running to Rowen's side. Sage groaned. He should have known better than to let her go because Mirichu had never listened to anyone else but her own heart!

As Mirichu tended to Rowen, Dais surprised Ryo with an illusion in the midst of their fight and threw him backwards, knocking him out sufficiently. Immediately, the Warlord returned his attentions to the warrior of Strata on the cavern floor still struggling to breathe. "Who's you pretty friend, Strata?"

"Na… none of your ba… business," he wheezed, standing up by using Miri as a support post.

Dais looked her over, smiling at what he saw. "Take a picture, it'll last longer," she spat with as much scorn in her voice as she could manage.

"What's a dazzling woman like you doing in a dank cave like this?"

"Coming to exterminate a pest."

"And what pest would that be, my sweet?"

"You!" she shouted, letting go of Rowen to spin around and kick the spider man square in the chest. Dais had not expected to be kicked with such force, to say the least; he had also not expected the powerful kick to be delivered by a woman. The Dark Warlord gasped in pain and surprise and stumbled backward, grasping at his injured chest.

"This is not your fight, Miri. Stand back!" Rowen warned, taking her sternly by the arm.

"No way, I'm just getting warmed up."

"Well, you better cool down because you're not fighting anymore!"

"But-"

"No!" he insisted. "Go help Ryo up so he can get back in this fight, and when you're down, go take cover somewhere where it's safe from view."

"Ooh! Go to hell, Rowen Hashiba!" With that Mirichu stormed over to Ryo's side and gingerly lifted his head off of the cold stone floor. "You with me, sweetie? Can you hear what I'm saying?"

"Yeah," he said groggily, raising his head and blinking his eyes a few times. "I'm okay. Little woozy, but all right otherwise. Are you okay?"

"Of course I am, but I can't say the same for Rowen. He's facing off against Dais on his own, and he won't let me help him. He insists that I drag the poor, injured Ryo to his unsteady feet so that he can get the crap beat out of him even more."

"Good."

"Excuse me for being the stupid one here, but how do you see that as a good idea?"

"Dais is much too powerful for you to fight. If I must, I'll take the blows for you."

"But-"

"You've done your job to wake me up, now go keep a look out for Cye, Kento and Sage. But don't you dare try to fight with them, you hear? You'll only hinder their progress."

Mirichu pouted her lip. "So that's all I am to you, a responsibility and a hindrance?"

"Of course not, Miri! I just want to keep you safe so I can hug you later on because you're so damn brave in the face of real danger. Okay?" 

She smiled slightly at the thought and sighed in concession. "Okay, go get him, Wildfire."

"And remember, should those guys need a little extra help, call White Blaze." And Ryo ran off to aid Rowen in his battle.

Miri trotted over to a small cleft in the wall of the cavern and took lookout for the three troopers. Occasionally, she would shout warnings to the Ronin Warriors to watch their backs or to help each other out. Boring. She wanted to fight!

"Sage, behind you!" Miri spotted a Dynasty soldier trying to sneak up on her friend while he was dueling with another. She was about to whistle for White Blaze when she noticed that he had his mouth full already – literally – with Dais' arm. So instead of simply sitting back and watching him struggle, Mirichu leapt from her perch down onto the approaching guardsman. 

"Oh hell…" Sage began as he finally noticed the other soldier. The moment before he was about to be reamed full of spear, Miri sailed down from above like a fallen angel and swept the soldier's legs out from underneath him. Once the beast had fallen, she pounced on his lost spear, spinning it ever so skillfully through her delicate fingers then plunging it without hesitation into his chest. The monster vaporized into thin air, leaving one aghast Sage of Halo standing in the ethereal smoke. "Where did you learn that neat, little trick?"

"When you train with Rowen a couple of times," Mirichu said, "you tend to pick up a few of those."

"I've never seen him do that before."

"So I added a few fancy frills to the attack. Sue me."

"I'd rather kiss you for saving my sorry butt."

"Thanks for acknowledging that. The other guys would have sooner insisted that giant monkeys from the planet Nincompoop had assumed control of Earth before they would admit that I saved them. It's good to know that someone here appreciates me."

"They all do, they just won't admit it. Manly pride, you know."

"Look out!" Miri cried in surprise. Sage whirled, instantly moving into his first punch. The Dynasty trooper reeled, smashing into the stone looming behind him with such force that it rocked the whole cave. "And where did you learn that neat, little trick?" she mocked.

"Comes with training with Rowen, don't you know?"

"Oh Sage? Could I borrow you a second…" Cye beckoned from the sidelines. 

"Stay here for a moment."

"You're still not going to let me fight?" she asked incredulously.

"I think you've earned your chance, but you've got no weapon with which to fight."

"What do you call this?" Mirichu queried, wheeling the soldier's spear over her head and displaying it proudly next to her like the Ancient's staff.

Sage hesitated to say yes, but eventually he just gave in to her, telling her that she could only fight if she took White Blaze along to accompany her. "And you better call if you even sense for one second that you need help!"

"SAGE!" Cye croaked mightily.

With that, the warrior of Halo raced off to Torrent's side, leaving Mirichu to gather White Blaze and go off to her own battle. She ran forward to the newest onslaught of Dynasty creeps, a triumphant smile blazing across her face. Immediately, she began her attack on two of the challenging soldiers, punching and kicking them at speeds that were faster than most of the Ronin Warriors' even were. And in the blink of an eye their fight was dramatically concluded when Miri stabbed the creatures through their hearts with her new toy. She grinned maliciously as she slowly extracted the blade from the second beast's chest, twisting it once on the way out and watching the gore with wicked delight in her eyes. 

After helping to severely decrease the population of the Dynasty soldiers in the cavern, Miri made sure her three friends were okay before returning to join Ryo and Rowen's sides. 

Since she had awoken Wildfire, not much had changed between Illusion and Strata other than each was a little more beat up and black-and-blue than previously. Rowen was still managing to hold his own against Dais even though exhaustion was evidently setting in. Ryo, although he was fighting, his attacks were useless and weak. The blow Dais had dealt him earlier obviously had affected his ability to effectively fight. Dais easily blocked his punches and deflected his kicks. Rowen may as well have been fighting by himself, for Ryo was just no use in this war. 

The instant Dais blasted Rowen backward, Mirichu dove toward him, jabbing the Warlord in the small of his back with as much force as the butt of the spear could carry. The Warlord fell to his knees, cursing at his excruciating pain. His head whipped around, his eye narrowing on the gorgeous female warrior. "A woman with spark. I like…"

"The feeling's definitely not mutual," she growled, gracefully twirling the spearhead like a baton to point it directly at his chest. "Prepare to be shish-kabobbed."

"Dais!" Talpa crowed, his voice sounding throughout the whole room. "Return to the Dynasty at once!"

"But, Master Talpa, I have not finished with them yet! Give me a few more minutes and I can destroy Wildfire!"

"Do not question my orders! Return to me now!"

"As you wish, Master Talpa." Dais straightened up slightly, his gaze eyeing the tip of the spear cautiously. "Save some of that for me later, beautiful," he oozed, licking his lips seductively.

Miri screamed in revulsion and charged at him, blade first. The second before the tip could penetrate his armor, the Spiderman vanished into thin air, an amused laugh lingering to mock her.

"What was that?" Rowen fumed.

"Just saving your behind from destruction is all, if you don't mind!"

"Mind? Mind! Sage! I thought I told you to keep a leash on her!"

"I tried, man," he protested in his defense, "but she is one tough chic. Didn't you see her fight?"

"I prefer that I didn't. No one was supposed to see her fight at all."

"Then why did you teach me?" Mirichu quipped.

"That was in case you were ever accosted by a Dynasty Nasty when we weren't around. It wasn't for everyday use." Rowen was smoking mad, yet also incredibly impressed with Mirichu's performance. She had both the talent and the vivacity of a true warrior; the only thing that was keeping her from being one was the fact that Rowen was her best friend. He couldn't let her go in to battle and start waving around her little spear like she knew what she was doing. Miri would get hurt, and he could never forgive himself if such a thing were to happen.

But then Rowen saw Mirichu standing in the dim candlelight, her hair softly aglow and her spear tip glinting. Mirichu's shirt was short and tight, and her pleated skirt came to about mid-thigh, revealing both her taut stomach and strong, tapering legs. Her mystically green eyes sparkled with the fire of the fight past. She appeared to be a true warrior all right. Looking around the cavern, Rowen could also see he wasn't the only Ronin Warrior staring; Kento's eyes were about bugging out of his head as this was the first time he had actually had the chance to check her out. "Kento!"

"Wa… what?" he sputtered nervously. Rowen scolded him with his eyes.

"Well," Cye started, "I guess our job is done here tonight, fellas. Ready to go home and turn in?"

"Can't wait," Sage replied.

"I call first shower!"

"Oh no you don't, Kento! It's all mine," Cye disagreed.

"Here we go," Sage smiled to Miri, taking her hand to lead her out of the maze. "You bringing that with you?"

Mirichu glanced quickly at the spear in her other hand. "Naturally. I couldn't leave my new friend here for Dais, now could I?" The pair led the way back out as the troop chattered about their own personal victories, Kento most of all.

It was just another night for the Ronin Warriors and company.


	5. The Latest Reconnaissance Mission

Chapter Five – The Latest Reconnaissance Mission ****

Chapter Five – The Latest Reconnaissance Mission

Night had settled in long ago and taken over the world, wrapping its satin black arms around her. It was in full swing, with the insects singing and the moon glowing and the wind whispering. It was Rowen's dream night, as he had remarked to himself in his jeep earlier. All the stars in the heavens grinning at him… Venus, in all her glory, winking at him… 

Rowen stared out the window from his bed. He was the only Ronin left awake. For some reason he could not fall asleep tonight, and all he could think about was going to his meadow in the slumbering woods. But not now, for Dais, the creep, would probably be spinning his web in the grasses, waiting to capture the first foolish warrior to step there. Rowen decided he did not want to be that warrior, so he lay in his bed with his sheets pulled up to his chin, imagining what the scene would look like.

A summer breeze laced with the frost of the Great Mountains ruffled the white curtains. For a brief second, Rowen thought he saw a figure standing on the roof beneath Ryo's window. Impossible. The curtains fluttered again. No, someone was definitely there, looking inside, but nothing else about the figure was discernable because of the concealing pine tree that grew along side their house. Damn that tree! Rowen needed to see who or, more likely, what was lurking in the recesses of the shadows. 

He scrambled out of his bed in a flurry of ivory sheets, sticking his head out the window. All he saw was her silhouette, glorious and perfect. 

Mirichu…

How had she gotten on the rooftop, and, more importantly, why was she there? Her face remained hidden by the darkness, but Rowen was sure it was Mirichu by the necklace she wore. It was the silver sun pendant he had bought for her for her 16th birthday that gave her away. Magically, it was the only thing that the moonlight could illuminate from where she stood. The smiling celestial creature stared at him, and Rowen wondered if it really could see him. In the ethereal light she seemed alive and animated, as if she knew of his presence. A silver drop of liquid (a tear perhaps?) glided gently to the rooftop, shattering like a shard of tiny crystal.

Suddenly, Mirichu turned her attentions away from Ryo's window and toward him. Startled, Rowen yanked his head back in faster than he should have, and he slammed his skull into the frame of the open window. Rowen felt dizzy for but a second, and then the world went even blacker than it already was. 

@~~`~~~

The next thing Rowen remembered was the sound of an alarm clock blaring in his ears. He craned his head to look to his right, and the sight of Sage's face hovering close to his greeted him. "Good morning, merry sunshine."

Rowen groaned, touching the back of his head lightly. "Or not so good. What time is it?"

"6:00 a.m. on the dot. Looks like somebody overslept."

"Oh man, I feel like I've been run over by a tractor-trailer truck. How'd I get here?" he wondered, looking at the bed then the space on the floor where he fell last night. Rowen sat up slowly, wobbling slightly from his dizziness. 

"Whoa, Rowen! What the heck happened to you? Dais knock you something good, or what?"

"Or what, Sage. It was Mirichu."

"Miri hit you that hard? Whoa! I figured she was good from last night's action, but I didn't know she had this in her!"

Rowen shook his head and instantly regretted doing it. He felt intensely nauseous. "No, she didn't exactly hit me, but it was because of her that I knocked myself unconscious, apparently, and I have this huge lump on the back of my skull." He gingerly traced the welt with his finger, wincing at the electric shocks that raced through his veins. 

"When did this happen?"

"Oh, probably about midnight or a little after."

"And why exactly was she here?" Sage asked a little suspiciously.

"Honestly? Um, I don't know why Miri was here. All I know was that one second I was looking at Venus, and the next she was there, standing on the roof outside, under Ryo's bedroom window. As for the reason she was there, I haven't the foggiest. I think that's only a question Ryo and Miri can answer."

"Just standing?"

"Just standing there, looking in," Rowen confirmed.

"At Ryo?"

"At Ryo."

There was a little silence, and then Sage asked, "At midnight?"

"Yes, at midnight."

The blonde glanced mystified around the room. It all seemed so suddenly foreign to him. "But wasn't he asleep? I thought Ryo was the first to hit the hay last night, and wouldn't've White Blaze noticed her presence like all the other guys in the past? It just doesn't add up. Either she's a master at reconnaissance or White Blaze is losing his touch."

"I don't believe it's either thing, Sage, and that's what's spooky. It's like Mirichu was a ghost, my god. My Awakening didn't even alert me to her life force, and as we all know, my Awakening is really growing in power. If she were alive and within that short distance, I would notice."

"I've never heard anyone think of Miri as spooky – maybe a little crazy and definitely beautiful, but not spooky by any means. And as for your Awakening not detecting her, maybe you just didn't have it turned on or however your thing works."

"No, Sage, it's always on. And that's not what I mean by saying spooky. I mean that the situation was just plain strange. What was so important about seeing Ryo at twelve o'clock that she couldn't wait until the next time she saw him to tell him?"

"Maybe it's…"

Rowen narrowed his eyes, trying to conceal the evident fire blazing within their turquoise depths. "What? Love, is that what you were going to say? Well, wipe it from your mind because that's not what it is."

"It's possible. Didn't you see those two last night at the fight? It was like they were dating or married or something."

Rowen's eyes flared as though they were Ryo's swords. "Try the or something. I didn't see anything that could denote love between the two of them – nothing that remotely resembled it. Besides, love is an intense force within life itself. With my Awakening power I should have been able to detect her love, but I felt nothing. It's like she was dead, and that's the most terrifying thought I can think."

"Then don't think it!" Sage shouted, now angry at the way Rowen was taking their conversation. "Come on now, Rowen. You know as well as I do that Mirichu is a living, breathing person just like you and me. For heavens sake, I held her hand last night all the way out of the cave!"

"And she cried on my shoulder yesterday morning – real tears. The point I'm trying to make is that you don't need to be dead to be dead _inside_."

"Stop talking like that. It scares me as few things do."

"How do you think I feel, Sage? Every time I touch Mirichu I expect this burst of heat from the fire of the life inside her, but instead I feel nothing. And when I say nothing, I mean zilch, zip, nada, nichts. There's no cold, no warmth, no anything! How can this be, I wonder any time I'm near her, but I receive no answers."

"Have you tried the Ancient One? He may have the answers you're looking for."

Rowen turned to stare out the window, at the spot where he noticed Mirichu's silhouette last night. He could still see the moonlight glinting off the liquid silver pendant on her necklace, glimmering upon the splotch of water on the ground. "I sure hope so, buddy, I sure hope so."

@~~`~~~

The breakfast table was again cluttered with many dishes, but this time there was no Mia to clean them up. She refused to come out of her room until Ryo had left the kitchen. Of course Ryo, being the stubborn warrior that he was, wasn't going to let some woman intimidate him. He joined Cye and Kento at the table and enjoyed his cold cereal (since Mia wasn't there to make a hot breakfast). 

It was silent until Rowen and Sage entered the room; soon after the others seemed to come alive with a bit of shock. "What?" Kento gasped, putting his hand to his chest. "Rowen's home? Shouldn't he be out in his little meadow, making out with Mirichu?" Ryo growled a warning to the Ronin in orange, but he pretended not to notice. 

"Kento!" Rowen shouted unnecessarily loudly. "That's not what we do there!"

"Then what _do_ you do?" he persisted, smiling wickedly.

"If you want to live to finish Sage's breakfast," Ryo started, "you'll shut-up now!"

"Noted!" Kento cried, aware of how close Ryo was to strangling him with his bare hands. "Shutting-up!" Immediately, the warrior returned to his food and ignored the others so as not to aggravate them, especially Ryo. He turned his attentions to Cye for a fleeting second. "Why is Ryo ready to kill me this morning? Is his armor too tight or something?"

"For crying out loud, Kento! Can't you tell he's ready to shred you to pieces because you're insinuating that something is going on between Rowen and Mirichu other than strictly friendship?!"

"But why does he care what those two do in their spare time?"

Sage slapped himself on the forehead. "Don't make me hit you! You can't possibly be that blind."

Cye looked sadly at the blonde. "You'd be surprised, you'd be surprised."

Meanwhile, Ryo had turned an envious eye toward Rowen, but he quickly forced those hurtful feelings back when he saw the thoughtful expression on his friend's face. "What's the matter, Rowen?"

"Ah, nothing," he lied bluntly. "Do you happen to know where I can find the Ancient now?"

Ryo shook his head, his black hair swishing softly around him. "Haven't seen him since last night, after we told him how the battle went. Why?"

"No reason. Did you see anyone outside your window at about midnight, or did White Blaze?"

"No, my eyes closed as soon as my head hit the pillow. It was the soundest sleep I ever had. I believe the question is did you see someone?"

Rowen looked down at the soggy cereal in Ryo's bowl. The tiny O's bubbled as they absorbed the milk into themselves. The swirling of the white liquid and the circular motions of the O's hypnotized him. "I don't know. I swear I saw… someone, but I can't be sure. They were outside your window, looking in."

"So now you're saying it was a 'they,' not a 'him.'"

"Actually…" He didn't know how to answer. Rowen was caught in his own trap. He thought briefly that he could sneak by with some confusing words, and Ryo wouldn't take notice, but that wasn't the case. "It wasn't a 'they' or a 'him.'"

"So what was it? An 'it?'" Wildfire grinned, an excitement for another battle glowing in his eyes.

"No, the someone was a she, not an it, and her name is Mirichu."

Ryo's jaw dropped in disbelief. Mirichu had come to his window? Why? He seriously believed that she didn't really like him, but he had always hoped that he was wrong. Could it be true that she had some feelings for him after all? "You're sure it was Miri? I mean, you were probably pretty drunk with sleep; you could have been seeing things."

"Oh no," Strata replied almost morosely, "it was she, I'm positive. But what I don't know is why she was here, so I figured you might know. And if not you, then the Ancient would, but I can't seem to find him anywhere to ask."

"Sorry, buddy, I can't help you. Did you ask all the others?"

"Not yet. I don't really want to talk about this now, at least until I know what's going on, so I prefer if you didn't say anything to anyone but Sage and me."

Ryo extended his hand. "It's a done deal. And, Rowen, when you find the Ancient, tell him I need to speak with him as well."

"Oh really," the blue warrior said. "About what?"

Glancing around the table at the other Ronins, Wildfire whispered, "I'll tell you later. Don't forget to mention it to the Ancient."

"I won't," Rowen reassured, heading outside to the patio. 

@~~`~~~

The wind blew strongly over the mountains and up the valley walls, just like any other day. But this day was different; this day was a day of destruction. The warrior could tell. Things were simply aching to be destroyed: the singing Ginkou trees, the rushing mountain streams, the crowing onyx ravens. It seemed as though all the life force had been drained from these things. Nothing wanted to survive to see another day under the ruthless sun and the oppressing Dynasty. 

But one strong-willed creature remained in the valley, near the chilly lake. Rowen could feel the strength of this being screaming through him overtop all the other mourning beings. It just had to be the Ancient.

Rowen raced down the stairs, his legs pumping furiously, and then across the endless fields to the familiar grove of green trees. It was preternaturally quiet in the shade, save the lapping of the minute waves of the lake. The stillness sent his heart quickening as he sensed someone sneaking up from behind him. A rustle of a fallen leaf. The warrior spun lightning fast, his subarmor snapping on in the blur he had become.

Nothing was there. Not even the leaf Rowen had known he had heard could be found, just strained rays of golden light piercing the canopy. "Hello? Ancient One, are you here?"

The wind called him again. "Rowen… Leave this place… Come fly away with me…" So bizarre. How could air talk to him like that? But, as he recalled what the Ancient One had said to him about his Awakening, Rowen realized that everything could talk to him now. Blessing or curse? He had yet to decide, and he was not looking forward to it.

Suddenly, on one of those mountain gusts, the Ronin Warrior felt the presence of someone very near, though he could not pinpoint the sex of the person or where he or she was standing. "Hello?" he called out hesitantly, his voice trembling a little, but he didn't know why. "Who's there?" Rowen thought for a second it might be the Ancient One, but when no one answered his thought metamorphisized into something brand new. 

Rowen spun wildly in a circle, his keen eyes scanning the perimeter of the scene. Nothing but the sight of swaying trees greeted him. The shadows swirled and the light shifted. It was like he was in a jungle worlds away from his home in Toyama. Leaves grated against each other, the sound of natural maracas above him, a sound he did not know. 

There was a tap on his shoulder. "Boo!" the silhouette behind him laughed. Rowen jumped about ten feet into the air, literally, landing on a gnarly branch and dangling precariously there. 

"Jesus, Mirichu! You scared the Christ out of me! That was not funny," he scolded, climbing down from the tree. 

"You were expecting someone else?" she asked innocently, her eyes smirking with delight. 

"Actually, yes. I was hoping to find the Ancient One down here. I don't suppose you've seen him?" All the while, as he asked the question, he wondered whose life force he had felt here in the valley. It couldn't have been Mirichu's because she was almost nothing in that area, as he had noticed previously.

Miri frowned, a pretty contortion of her already stunning face. "No, 'fraid not. I came down here myself to take a swim in the lake, but then I saw you, and I decided to surprise you."

"Thanks."

"No problem." Miri traced a finger along the trunk of the tree behind her. "So, how come you didn't use your little Awakening-thingy on me? You probably could have found me with it, right? Isn't that how it works, like a little homing radar or something?"

"Not exactly," he grinned at her naivete. "I haven't quite honed my skills like that yet, but I'm trying.

"So, you haven't seen the Ancient One then?"

"Like I said, no. 

How'd you sleep last night?" she asked, a bit of anxiousness sounding in her voice. Her lips pursed, and her eyes darkened from their emerald shade to almost black. 

Rowen looked squarely at her, deciding how to answer her. She knew that he had seen her last night, so she was nervous. Should he question Miri about it though? Obviously, she hadn't wanted him to know of her late night presence, otherwise she wouldn't be so jittery about it. "Fine." Well, that would have to suffice it for now. Another lie between them to add like a brick into the wall.

"I guess so since you didn't even wake up for the sunrise today. And just how is that? Weren't you the one who told me that ever since you found that meadow you've gone for every single sunrise there, no exceptions."

He shrugged, trying to be nonchalant about it. "Things change."

Mirichu perused the area about her, the lush green trees, the whimpering lake, and the sighing mountains. These were things that did not change, or at least, they had yet to do so. Why could they not be like these objects? Why did they have to be different? "I guess so…" she murmured thoughtfully. 

The warrior stared down at her slim figure, his eyes soft with sadness as well. Rowen saw how troubled her soul was; hell, he felt her pain through his Awakening. It was so powerful, it overcame the life forces of all the things around them. Instantly, Rowen's hand drifted down like a feather and rested itself on her shoulder. "What is it?"

"Nothing a day in the lake can't fix. Wanna join me for a swim?" She broke free of his grasp and hid her melancholy as quickly as she could.

"I think I better not. There is something very important I have to discuss with the Ancient."

Miri pooh-poohed his idea. "It can wait a half hour! Come on!" she urged youthfully, shedding her clothes like a skin and bounding into the cool valley water. 

"For heaven's sake, Miri! I…" But the second he saw her slender form glimmer in the light of the morning sun, Rowen almost dove head first into the water. Mirichu's face was wet with drops of the molten glass and they only served to illuminate her smile. Her spirit and capriciousness made the staunch warrior want to throw away all of his inhibitions and just immerse himself in the glistening pool with the gorgeous woman. How could her life force be so dim, yet her spirit and soul be so brilliant? Rowen grinned at Mirichu as she gave him the you-better-listen-to-me eye. "I can't," he squeaked out practically painfully, "I have to talk to the Ancient now."

"It can't wait 30 minutes?" she pouted miserably, and once again Rowen almost faltered and agreed to come in with her. 

"No, it can't. Maybe some other time, I hope."

"In your dreams. It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."

"Oh please." He rolled his eyes. "With your accessibility, I can get you in the water or wherever else I want you to be, for that matter, whenever I want."

"Are you calling me easy?" Miri shouted, her mouth agape in shock at her best friend's comment.

"Um, no?" Rowen chuckled, his eyes widening in alarm as Mirichu sprinted out of the glassy pool and ran straight for his throat with her long, pointed nails driving for the tender, exposed flesh. He raced up the nearest tree, aware that she couldn't climb it in her bathing suit. 

"I swear to Heaven above, Rowen Hashiba, that I will hang you from the branch you stand on!" The dripping wet woman swore angrily, curse after curse, at the bottom of the tree for a good five minutes before she gave up and returned to the warmth of the water. 

"I love you, too, Miri, darling!" the Ronin chorused, swinging out of the tree and leaving his companion behind to finish her swim. He still had the task in front of him of finding the Ancient One. 

Concentrate, he told himself. Find his life force. Single it out like the Ancient taught you to do. Rowen closed his eyes and squeezed them tight until a palette of colored dots sparkled radiantly behind their lids. He searched within himself for the Calling, the specific cry of the life inside everything. Using his abilities, Rowen narrowed down the list of possible places he could be by listening for the distinct jingle inside the old man in the reed hat, like the jingle of his magic staff. He heard it suddenly. It sounded like a thousand church bells in his head. It hurt like hell, but now he knew where he could find the Ancient.


	6. Fate, Love and War

Chapter Six – Fate, Love and War ****

Chapter Six – Fate, Love and War

It was the place Rowen had not expected to see that day, not after the hectic morning anyway. The grass was glistening with the noon sun, and the brook turned into a river of diamonds under the sparse light that breached the canopy above it. He sniffed the fresh air, the scent of wildflowers drifting lackadaisically up his nose and clearing his mind. The clang of steel blade on steel blade alerted Rowen that someone was walking through the high weeds behind him, stirring the grasses into another all-out war. But instead of jumping into battle position, the warrior of Strata merely craned his head slightly, enough to notice who was creeping up from the forest edge. 

"I see you have found me with your powers. That is good," the old man in the reed hat commended, "very good. Now that you are starting to control your Awakening we can use it to combat the Dynasty. A proper weapon, I should say. As great as the Hankyu you carry, if not more so."

Rowen finally faced the Ancient One, a contented grin on his face. "Actually, it was rather easy."

"As well it should be, Strata, and it will only get easier. Now why did you seek me out and disturb my meditation?" he questioned immediately, surprising the young man.

"I am sorry if that is what I did, but I have urgent questions for you that possibly you alone can answer." The Ancient nodded for him to continue, and Rowen never missed a beat. "Last night, outside my window, I swear I saw a figure, and not just anyone's figure, but Mirichu's. When I asked Ryo about it, he said he didn't have an inkling to her late night presence, but I swear she was there! Even Miri says she was at her own home; however, I am beginning to question her veracity. It seems she's been lying to me more and more frequently, but I don't know why. Perhaps you cannot solve the second riddle, but how about the first?"

The old man had tipped his hat lower during the course of Rowen's soliloquy, completely obscuring his dark eyes from view and most of his face as well. Maybe he was hiding something from Rowen, too. Then the mysterious man spoke. "I confess that I do know why she was at Mia's home last night; however, I am truly sorry to disappoint you, but I cannot tell."

"But why, Ancient One? What could be the harm?"

"Messing with the powers of Fate is a tricky business, and one into which I would not like to submerge myself. Fate shall not be trifled with, for she will not take kindly to it. He who abuses her shall regret it almost instantly."

The blue warrior exhaled noisily. "That's a fine speech and everything, but what does that have to do with anything we were talking about?"

"For a genius you are not very bright." Rowen frowned intensely, as he was offended by that unkind remark. "If I were to tell you, Rowen of Strata, about Mirichu's visit, I would be immersing myself into a swirling sea of trouble, and I could potentially endanger your life as well as the lives of many others."

"I still don't see how that can be…" The horizon seemed to flash a vibrant red for one moment, then faded back to its normal, pale blue color dotted with a line of black clouds that supported Dynasty gates. 

"Warrior, fear nothing. All will reveal itself throughout the course of time. Know that although Mirichu may not be totally candid with you at this time, she has valid reasons to back her actions up. And when the right day comes along you and the Ronin Warriors will know all of the story, even though by that time you five may not want to." The old man turned his face skyward, a bit of yellow light creeping under the lip of the hat to reveal a twisted look to his weathered face, one of immense sadness. Rowen could barely see his eyes, but they appeared to be a mystical sea of melancholy that could only result from incredible loss, and their corners were glistening with unshed tears. 

"I am under the impression that you know much, much more about this topic than you wish to speak. Listen, if Miri is in any sort of danger, you must tell me. I don't give a damn about the consequences if knowing what is going on will save her from the pain."

"I wish it were that simple. If it only involved you, Rowen of the Strata, I would tell you in a heartbeat, but too many lives depend upon my utmost silence. Do you understand my predicament?" Rowen tried to desperately; however, for the life of him, he could just not see why if Mirichu were in danger, the Ancient would not share this information. But the obedient warrior simply nodded his head in concession and whispered meekly that he understood. "Fine then. I suppose this is the close of the conversation?"

"I suppose," Rowen muttered with a tinge of disappointment. 

"If you would be so kind as to leave me to my meditation…"

"Right, of course, Ancient One." He bowed politely at the dismissal, and in the following silence Rowen exited through the way he came into the meadow, using the beaten path. 

"You are a good warrior, Rowen of the Strata, with a brave heart, but you are an even better friend for Mirichu. She values the insane sort of balance you bring to her life, even if at times she does not show it."

Rowen never looked back at the old man in the concealing reed hat. Already he was too lost in thought about what the Ancient had said throughout the course of their conversation. Who was the Destiny lady? What did she have to do with Mirichu and the Ronin armors? Was she a threat? The stream of questions was unending, and the flow of answers was non-existent. 

@~~`~~~

The sun was to set on another day just as before. Sage relaxed on the rooftop of Mia's house, glaring at the dwindling orb of glimmering golden light. He wanted to see for himself just what his best friend found in the rising and setting of the eternal sun. What was so magical about something that happened every single day? Wasn't there a saying that went something like "as sure as the rising of the sun"? So, if the rising of the sun was so assured, why bother to see it come up every morning if it would just come up the same way tomorrow? What a ridiculous stream of nonsense! the blonde thought to himself. There were some aspects about Rowen that he could never interpret no matter how many years he knew him.

With surprised awe the warrior of Halo watched as the redheaded beauty dipped below the mountain peaks in slow motion, the last strands of her fiery hair lassoing the tops of the great stony beasts. Almost immediately the blue heavens turned black like evil infesting a pure soul, and stars popped up around him, their silver petals budding with the change in colors of the sky. The purple horizon faded to a satiny onyx, too, and the night took over completely, expelling all traces of the day. Fate was a beautiful artist…

Amazing. Sage got it now. He finally understood what was so fantastic about the sunset. The colors and then the lack thereof. The peace of a never-ending war, which was a paradox within itself. The symbolism of good versus evil. It was incredible – a natural high so hard for him to reach unless Sage was fighting in a battle. Now the warrior understood that it wasn't merely an everyday occurrence to be taken for granted, but a thrilling experience to appreciate and use for meditation and quiet thought. 

Sage began to wonder what the sunrise was like, for it had to be greater than the sunset if that was what Rowen enjoyed the most. Definitely, Sage would make it a priority to accompany his best friend to his meadow tomorrow for the morning drama. He would make it a point to ask Rowen when he came home.

@~~`~~~

Ryo tapped his foot impatiently on the floor of his room. His head swam with the mere thoughts of his problems in his sordid life. His dilemma with Mia, his war with Talpa, his love for Miri. When would the cycle end? Surely never, for Ryo was a Ronin Warrior to the end of his life, the wearer of the armor of Wildfire and the unannounced leader of the group. The obstacles in all his friends' lives would become obstacles in his life, as well, until they could be overcome. 

Fate was a bitch, and if Ryo ever met her, he swore to take her down. She had ruined so many lives. Arguably though, she had also helped many, but Ryo didn't know anyone personally that could be considered proof of that statement, so he would still kill her if he met her. 

How could Fate be so cruel to him? He struggled with a woman whom he respected. He fought a war that he could easily lose. He loved a woman he could not have. Where was Justice to intervene? Probably in the kitchen fixing himself a snack, Ryo thought as he pictured his always hungry friend Kento. 

At least Fate had given him friends, friends he could trust with his very life. Not too many other people could say the same thing. Blessed and cursed in the same existence, how ironic. 

Ryo stood up and stretched. His stomach growled. All day he had had to make his own meals because Mia refused to make them. Now, Ryo wasn't the greatest chef to begin with, but at least he wasn't nearly as terrible a cook as Rowen, thankfully. Maybe Kento could fix him something to eat as well.

The red warrior of virtue made his silent way down the stairs to the kitchen; however, before he got there, he was struck with the sight of his buddy Rowen sitting contemplatively on the sofa. He trod softly to his slumped figure, resting a hand on his shoulder. "Rowen? You okay, man?"

"Huh?" he asked, startled. "Yeah, fine, I guess… 

"No, I'm not!" he shouted suddenly, raising up off the couch angrily. "I go out to get answers and I only get more questions!"

"Isn't that the truth," Ryo muttered a bit bitterly. 

"I just had two simple inquires to make to the Ancient One, and he doesn't even answer one straight up. Oh sure, if I had wanted the most oblique reply one could possibly give, then, yeah, he helped me bunches. But I didn't want that! Just two easy questions for him!" Rowen practically whimpered in frustration. Everything always had to be so frustrating!

Ryo patted his friend on the back, trying to sooth his ragged nerves, for he grasped the Ancient's cryptic ways the best of them all because he had the most intimate relationship with the old man. "You hungry, buddy, because I'm staring."

The warrior lifted his downcast eyes and smiled widely at Ryo. "You sound like Kento."

Wildfire grimaced, then his lips turned upwards in a grin. He interpreted Rowen's remark as a signal for yes, and he lead the young man into the kitchen where, sure enough, they found Kento in front of the refrigerator. "Why do the both of you look so down?"

"Oh, I don't know," sighed Ryo. "I think it's got something to do with Fate."

Rowen's head bucked backwards in shock. Fate was the exact same thing he and the Ancient had been talking about previously. Had Ryo's life force been the strong one he detected earlier? He squeezed his eyes shut and searched for Ryo's essence, but once he found it, he knew it had not been the thing he had felt by the lake today. Although his was remarkably brilliant, to the point where it was almost blinding, the Wildfire spirit could not match the unknown Rowen had experienced. "Excuse me, Ryo? What did you just say about Fate?"

"Ah, nothing. Just a random thought that entered my head today. What've you got to eat, Kento?" Wildfire asked, eyeing the full plate Hardrock had before him.

"Nothing for you, so back off! Get your own grub!"

"Can't you spare one noodle for your friend Ryo?"

Kento shook his head furiously. "Nope, not one. Sorry… Looks like someone should have apologized to Mia when he had the chance."

"Fine, eat it, monkey, but don't come crying to me when Cye starts kicking your ass for being one!"

Kento headed off on his merry way to the dining room to eat his "snack" while Rowen and Ryo scrounged for anything that might have been spared from Hurricane Kento. Needless to say, they found very little. "I always wondered what three-day old fried rice tastes like," Ryo whined miserably, removing a small container of the brown grain from the VERY back of the fridge. 

"You know he's right, don't you?" Rowen said absentmindedly as he poked his finger at a package of ancient beef tenderloins. 

"Who, Kento? About what?"

"Mia. You should apologize to her before she stops cooking for us permanently. Unless, that is, if you want me to cook our meals from now on…" Ryo looked disgustedly at his friend, a bit of what appeared to be pity dancing in his blue eyes. "That can easily be arranged, and I'm sure the others would love you for your very intelligent decision."

"All right! All right! You got me! Anything to spare us from your, um, cooking, if anyone could be so bold as to call it that." Ryo exited the kitchen and slipped down the first floor hallway to Mia's room. Rowen heard a knock, then the sound of a door opening, then a click as the jamb sealed it shut again, this time with his friend inside the room. 

@~~`~~~

Down in the valley, where the moonlight shone best, Sage saw the dancing figure, hypnotic and beautiful, swaying gracefully amongst the grove of Ginkou trees. The blackened creature twisted and flowed to an unheard rhythm, the dark ballerina from the dead. She spun fantastically like a child's top, her leg in a perfect accent. The moment she stopped her spin, she dipped forward into a flawless arabesque, her movements seeming to tell an archaic love story lost long ago to the ages. 

Sage was mesmerized, unable to look away for a second for fear he would miss her next amazing stunt or eloquent move. The ballerina swiftly entered a grand jetê leap, landing without stirring a blade of grass. He gasped in awe at the fluidity of her movements. She couldn't be real…

On point, the woman tip-toed into the light, letting her face be bathed in the rays of the moon. The black beauty was Mirichu, but whom else did he think it could possibly be? Sage was surprised he hadn't learned by now that anything mysterious or beautiful within his life was always Miri herself or something having to do with her. Suddenly she was an ever-present force in all the Ronins' lives now for some yet unexplained reason. It was just like before when she, Rowen and he were growing up in school. They met and became inseparable, Miri dubbing their trio the Three Musketeers. After a brief hiatus away from the two, it looked like Mirichu was back home. 

Fate. Was it Fate that brought them together? Fate that ripped them apart in the first place? Was she responsible for all that was happening? Sage had sensed her being in the sunset, and now he sensed her below in the valley, as if she were dancing with Miri. 

The ebony creature pirouetted, then arched her back as she exited out of the spin, her arms in a dramatic swoop above her body. Sage could almost see another dancer there with her, twirling her this way and circling her like a moon around a planet. By the time Sage began to fully see the other dancer, he also seemed to here the music to which they were dancing. It sounded very similar to a song he had once heard on Rowen's opera CDs – the ones he kept hidden from the other warriors – called "Carmen." The music fit perfectly with their motions, the great sweeps of their arms, the startling fans of their legs, the punctual strikes of their hands and feet. Every time the song would crescendo, the two would leap into the air and drift softly back to the Earth. For Mirichu, much like for Rowen, it seemed as though gravity did not exist. 

As the music came to a dramatic conclusion, the ghostly second figure faded, and Miri was like she had started, alone. But she didn't seem to notice it, for she kept on going, as though a lover had her in his arms. 

Then the song stopped and Miri froze, with her green eyes focusing directly on Sage's spying form atop the house. Even from the distance he could see her eyes widen in embarrassment, and he couldn't help but smirk at her expression. To his horror, he watched Mirichu raise a fist above her head and start shouting at the top of her lungs all the terrible things she would do to him once she got up to the house. "Time to make my dramatic exit," he announced to himself as he swung over the drainpipe and through his open bedroom window.

@~~`~~~

"Protect me, Rowen!" Sage wailed as he skidded to a stop before the curious Ronin. He dove behind the body of his best friend, clinging tightly to the fabric of his jacket. 

"From what?" he asked, trying to get a look at Sage from the front, but the blonde refused to let Rowen move him from behind his human shield.

"Not from what, from whom!"

At that very second, the front door burst inward, a raging Mirichu standing in the frame. "Die, you little peeper!" she screamed, lunging at Rowen when she saw Sage's head peep out around the other warrior's frame. 

"Eep!" Sage squealed, throwing Rowen at her. 

Her arms encircled Strata instead of Halo, and she squeezed him tightly to her. "Sorry, luv, you're not the one I want." Almost carelessly Miri tossed him aside, diving for the escaping figure of Sage. She disappeared through the doorway through which the blonde had escaped – only the wind was left to show she had been there. 

Rowen merely stared at the emptiness, the plate of cheese and the cup of tea in his hands. He shrugged. I don't want to know, I don't want to know he told himself as he slipped up the stairs to his bedroom.

@~~`~~~

In the deceptively peaceful living room, Sage hid behind the concealing sofa, hoping to fool Mirichu into thinking that only Kento and Cye were in there, playing a rousing round of Go Fish. They had promised to keep him a secret so long as he told them all about what he had seen Mirichu doing.

I should have never started watching her! he scolded himself. Now look where it got me… knee-deep in trouble. I, a Ronin Warrior, am afraid of a girl I've known for almost ten years! Where is the logic in that?

The room went silent – cards stopped being shuffled, people stopped breathing, thoughts stopped being thought – as a colorful spirit floated in through the entranceway. Her hair flowed like a black ocean behind her, waves of the dark substance lapping at the air. Her impossible green eyes searched the entire room in great sweeps, halting on the two now shivering forms stretched out before a spread of cards. "Where is he?" she inquired in a sweet yet poisoned voice. 

"He who, Miri?" Kento replied, trying his best to look innocent.

"Oh, you and Cye both know very well of whom I speak. But since he has you playing dumb, I want you to tell me where Sage Date of Halo is or else."

"I'm almost scared," Cye said, choking on his own brave words.

"Listen to me, Blue Boy, I want that warrior, and if I don't get him shortly, I'll have to take my aggressions out on you two!" The pair wondered if Mirichu would really do that, but they decided not to question her when the saw the extreme impatience glistening in her eyes. 

Kento was the one who finally ratted Sage out, but it made no difference to him once he was in the tightening grasp of the surprisingly strong Mirichu Tenku. She lifted him off of his feet by the collar of his shirt, raising him to the point where his head almost bumped the ceiling. It didn't really hurt, for it was just an insane way of getting Sage's attention; needless to say, it was had. "Sage, my dear, best friend, who just so happens to be a peeping Tom!" she shouted in what seemed to actually be mock anger. 

"Leave us," she commanded Kento and Cye, who immediately obeyed without even bothering to pick up their cards. "Now, where were we?"

"You were calling me a peeping Tom, I do believe."

"Oh yeah, shut up! Speak only when I tell you to!"

"Yes, ma'am."

Miri grabbed him behind his knees – his secret ticklish spot – and started tickling unmercifully, all the while keeping Sage off the ground. "You don't get it. I didn't tell you to speak; therefore, this is your punishment and will be from now on unless you answer me straight and true. We clear?"

"Yes!" he squeaked without dignity. "Anything to st…stop the ta… ha ha …tickling!"

Miri removed her hand and threw him over the back of the couch, and he landed with an oomph! on the cushions. Meanwhile, she gracefully leapt over the back, the ballerina's fluidity shining through her new warrior exterior. She pinned him underneath her body, and if Sage weren't terrified of another tickling, he would have been unimaginably pleased with the turn of events. Was it right that a girl should know where her guy friend was ticklish just so she could exploit him to her advantage? Wasn't that the guy's job? "What were you doing on the rooftop in the first place?"

Sage kept his eyes focused on her pretty face so she would know he wasn't lying to her. "In truth, I started out merely watching the sun set, okay? That's all. I just wanted to see what you and Rowen see every day that's supposedly so amazing."

"And did you?"

"I sure did. Actually, I was on my way back inside to ask him if I could come with you guys tomorrow morning for the sunrise…" Sage paused to breathe, as he realized he'd been holding his breath the entire time he'd been looking at her. "But then something – someone – caught my eye instead."

"That's when you saw me…"

"Dancing? Yes. You know, you're pretty good."

Mirichu grinned at the comment, but quickly wiped the smile away and instead slipped one of her hands behind his knee, poising it to attack lest he say anything wrong. "Shut up! Flattery will get a dead man no where! And that is what you are: a dead man walking. I catch you spying on me one more time, Sage, and so help me God I will rip your eyes from your sockets. Now get out of my sight before I kick your ass worse than I did Dais'!" Miri gave him a good tickling until Sage lay gasping helplessly for air, then she booted him from the living room and said good night to the remaining Ronins. 

As she walked toward the door, Miri thought to herself how wonderful her friends were. Even if Sage had spied on her, and even though Rowen was more frustrating now than ever before, and even if Ryo was a bigger mystery to her than she was to herself, she loved it all. There was not one thing for which she would have traded in her friendships with the Ronin Warriors. The bonds she held with them were strong like the North Wind, although they were ironically as uncontrollable, too. But that was what she valued: their unpredictability as well as their safety. 

When the raven dark woman opened the front door, she was chilled, not by the night, but by a premonition for a frightening future. It was a future ruled by a cruel Fate where one of them would be lost to the others. She saw death and destruction all around, and Sage, Cye, Kento, Ryo, Rowen and herself in the center of it. Everyone looked like they were dead, their eyes black with rot and emptiness, and overhead laughed a striking woman with hair as black as Miri's own and a pair of ebony eyes to match. One eye glittered with hatred and malice while the other sparkled with love and hope. She was Fate, there to make sure that her evil deed was completed, though Mirichu had yet to learn what exactly that evil deed was. 

She slammed the door and stood hyperventilating on the front porch. Someone was going to die very soon, and Fate would make sure that the death would be unavoidable. 


	7. Rules of the War Game

Chapter Seven – Rules of the War Game ****

Chapter Seven – Rules of the War Game

It was almost a week later before Anubis called the informal meeting of the Ronin Warriors together around the expansive dining room table. Mia and Yuli were on hand too along with White Blaze, lending eager yet frightened ears to the conversation. The Ancient One stood at the head of the table, his reed hat dipped lower over his face than usual. Before him stretched a mountain of maps and charts as well as the five colorful soldiers. 

"The time has come," he began with an ominous tremble to his old voice. "Anubis has informed me that Talpa is amassing his forces for invasion, with his remaining two Warlords as the generals. He has also told me of a new warrior, the Dynasty's secret weapon: a young Japanese woman. I know nothing of her and have heard nothing of her myself, but Anubis assures me that his sources are reliable. According to these sources, Talpa has given her almost unimaginable power, and she is a very skillful fighter already. The blood of many a great soldier runs through her veins. If what he says is indeed a truth, then the world is once again in great peril, and it is your job once again to save it. I have a feeling this woman will prove to be a great obstacle for you five on your path to triumph, but I know you can do it.

"Now we must plan your attack. For us to be successful we must be on the offensive instead of waiting to be on the defensive. We simply do not have the time to waste on fighting huge armies of Dynasty soldiers as well as the Warlords. If we go for the jugular – this new female general – and successfully eliminate her before she becomes troublesome, then we will surely win. If we do not plan this battle carefully, and you, Ronin Warriors, go charging into the fight without a thought in your heads, then you will fail, most assuredly."

The Ancient stopped talking long enough for the Ronin Warriors to assimilate all the words he had spoken to them. They looked nervously between each other, all wishing they did not carry this immense burden upon their shoulders. "What we need is the element of surprise," Kento offered.

Cye rolled his eyes though. "Oh yeah, that worked so well last time."  


"Do not start bickering, warriors, for there is no time for such trivial things. Both of you are right. We will most certainly need to organize an ambush, but when we execute the plan, this time we will have to remain aware of our surroundings," the old man's companion informed.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Ryo shouted. "Hold up for just a second here. Did Anubis say 'we,' as in including himself in the battle?"

"That he did, Ryo of Wildfire. With Anubis' new knowledge of the Ancient clan's ways as well as his experience in war and contact with the Dynasty, he might be the key to winning this fight with Talpa once and for all."

"But he's still a Warlord," Mia protested adamantly. "Isn't there a danger for him to revert back to evil once he's immersed in it? After all, the Nether Realm will be present all around them, so what happens if he turns back to serve Talpa?"

Anubis bowed his head in shame, hiding his sad eyes from the others. His past would forever be tied to the present no matter what good he would do. No one but the Ancient would ever trust him. "It will not happen, Mia," the old man assured, resting his withered hand on the former Warlord's shoulder. "Anubis is good for life; he always has been underneath, he just needed someone to chisel beneath his armored surface.

"Now I think we need to talk about including one other person in this fight…"

Mia straightened uneasily in her chair, twirling a lock of hair around her finger in anticipation of whom the Ancient would speak. "If you're gonna mention whom I think you are, I'm leaving this room."

"I am sorry, Mia. You will probably have to leave, if that is the way you feel. It is my belief that Mirichu should accompany you five along on your journey."

Rowen bolted up from his chair in unison with Ryo and Sage. His eyes widened in surprise and a bit of anger. Had the old man finally gone crazy after all these years? "Uh-uh, Ancient One. No way, no how. Miri isn't ready for a battle of this caliber, and I think she never will be. 

"She hasn't trained," Ryo objected.

"And she could make us vulnerable to Talpa should she be captured," Sage agreed.

"Besides," Rowen insisted, glaring angrily at the Ancient, "Miri's a woman, not a warrior."

"That is where you are wrong, my young Ronin. I'm afraid we have been keeping a secret from you five young men. For the past several months now, I have been training innocent Mirichu Tenku without your knowledge. She had me swear to keep our lessons a secret because she, as well as I, knew that you would object to her learning the ways of the samurai."

Jaws dropped across the room. Even Anubis was amazed that the Ancient had never told him of this, or that he had never noticed his late night escapes. Most of all though, Rowen was disturbed. She had never told him, never even thought to. How could Mirichu! A spark lit within him. "I wondered why it was that you two seemed to know each other so well."

"Although Mirichu handles herself capably in battle, incredibly capably, I do not believe she has realized her full potential as a warrior. She has a hidden power that only she can uncover, and when she does, I believe you had better step back because her power will be unimaginable."

Cye shook his head. This petite, simple girl had unimaginable power? Not possible. "How great is this power, Ancient One?"

"That, Cye of Torrent, I do not know for sure. All I know is that, in my meditations the previous day, I saw her cloaked in brilliant yellow, the color of the afternoon sun, and prismatic light sprayed out all around her, scorching the scene with its invisible fire."

"Sorry to revert back to the original statement you made, Ancient One," Ryo interrupted with a frantic wave of his muscular hand, "but how can Mirichu discover something that is hidden deep inside her? If even Miri doesn't know of the power, which she possesses now, is it really realistic of us to think that she will ever find this incredible strength? Should we place our hopes in a such a risky assumption?"

The Ancient One peeked out from under his hat to grin widely at the dark-haired boy who had become his friend; he was surprised by his intelligent questions. They were valid and thought-out, coming from this young man so filled with love and hate, strength and fear. "You realize many things about yourself when you're in combat. You discover courage and faith in yourself and others. When your friends are in danger, you learn of sacrifice and love. All sorts of good things can come out of battle, too, you see. This experience could be what sparks Mirichu's self-discovery. What better gift could you ever give her?"

Rowen flared, his chest heaving with a barely contained rage, and the only reason it was contained was because he revered and loved the old man in the reed hat. But what he was saying was ludicrous! "How about the gift of a longer life? If we bring Miri into this war, there is a STRONG possibility that she could be injured or much worse. And just for argument's sake, if we did bring her into the fight with us, what is the likelihood that she will ever even find this latent power? Slim to none, I tell you! Why should we put our friend in unnecessary jeopardy if we can defeat Talpa without her?"

"Rowen of Strata, it is for the greater good of-"

"No, I'm sorry, but I don't buy it! Only over my dead and rotted body will Mirichu fight the new female general."

"Yeah," Kento piped up, "and only then if they mud wrestle."

"Kento!" Rowen roared, his frustration spewing out with the words he spoke. "What the hell is wrong with you? This is a serious conversation we're having, and you are making a mockery of it! It's like you don't even care about the fact that Miri could get hurt. The only things your brain thinks about are the things the hormones tell it to think about! You don't process one ounce of what goes on around you unless it has to do with beautiful women or food!"

"Sorry…" he squeaked, getting up from the table to hide his embarrassment from his fellow warriors. 

Rowen whispered an apology to the chagrined boy, then added, "I need to step outside for a moment, if you'll please excuse me." He bowed to the room and escaped onto the verandah to conceal his shame for what he had foolishly said to the entire group. But right now, Rowen cared very little about what they thought of him, as he was still fuming over the way Miri had lied to him for months on end and, in doing so, betrayed their friendship. Oh sure, he could easily forgive her, but Rowen didn't believe she deserved his forgiveness yet. Mirichu covered up one lie with another until now Rowen could only see lies swirling about the image of her pretty face. And to top all of this off, the warrior had also reasons to believe she had other secrets, too. 

Strata was furious with the Ancient One, with Miri, with everyone and everything. The hatred burned inside him, waiting eagerly to release itself upon the world and call forth Talpa's evil Nether spirits. It festered inside his body, wriggling disgustedly like a mountain of worms. In a flash, the warrior's blue armor snapped on, and his angry fist came screaming down on the white banister. He watched as the wood splintered then exploded, a shower of brown and white raining down upon his trembling form. Along with the shards of wood, Rowen's fury flew away on a sudden wind. The quivering man stood panting on the edge of the porch, his toes teetering precariously on the sharp corners.

"Wow, Rowen, that was unexpected," Ryo gasped incredulously, eyeing the disaster area – as well as his friend – warily.

"Go away, Ryo," he growled bitterly.

"Why do you want me to leave you at a time like this?"

"Because," he managed to choke out, turning his red and tear-streaked face toward his faithful friend, "I don't want you to see me like this." His voice was rough and wet, the strain of frustration and sorrow hanging in his throat.

"My god, Rowen, what's wrong?"

"What isn't wrong?" he sighed almost in resignation. "Mirichu has lied to me repeatedly; we still have a war to fight and win against our arch nemesis; the Ancient One's gone batty on us… What more can go wrong? Oh, I forgot! Crap, I'm not supposed to say that because every time I do something worse comes along." Rowen laughed, mocking the words Miri had once spoken to him. "What a load of horse-"

"Rowen! Calm down, would ya? What you need to do is obvious; you have to talk to Miri before your friendship turns completely sour."

"Which it already has…"

"Stop talking like that! It hasn't yet, so there's still time to save it. You have to go talk to her and tell her what's wrong. How else can you expect to mend what's broken?"

"This coming from the relationship expert of the group."

"Would you rather Sage counsel you about it because that can be arranged?"

Rowen chuckled softly. "I guess not. Sorry."

"About the railing? Hey don't talk to me about it; this is Mia's place."

"No, not about that, but about the manner in which I spoke to you. I shouldn't have snapped so harshly like that. I guess I just let my emotions take control of me, and I really shouldn't have. It's not fair to you or the other Ronins."

Ryo glanced into the dining room at the old man in the reed hat. He stood solemnly in the corner, tapping his foot impatiently while letting Anubis handle that rest of the war plans. "Maybe I'm still not the one you should be apologizing to…"

"You're right," Rowen said. "Thanks for the advice."

"Don't mention it. I won't charge you this time, but next time I will." Ryo slapped him on the back and sent him inside. Poor guy, he mused. I guess I'm not the only one who bit off more than I could chew when I took this job.

@~~`~~~

As they settled into their beds for the night, the Ronins exchanged cheery goodnights like they always did and then slipped under their bedcovers, a chorus of rustling sheets accompanying them. Each warrior pretended to be asleep, but none of them was. They were too busy thinking about the battles they would fight, or whose ass they would have the pleasure of kicking, or whose life they might have to save. Nervous and excited at the same time, their emotions won over their need for rest, and they lay shaking under each layer of sheets. 

The clouds had rolled in and overtaken the once glimmering night sky, bringing on the first rain since almost two weeks ago. Rowen listened quietly to the low bellowing of the thunder and the high fizz of the lightning bolts. Drops of water splattered against the floor through the open window, a tiny whistling sound following them, so quiet that only the warrior from the sky could hear it. It was a lullaby to Strata's ears. The sky he loved tried to sing him to sleep with its watery voice, and Rowen, through his Awakening, could actually hear the song. Magically, it sounded like his mother's voice, singing a poem she had set to music for him whenever she wasn't traveling and had the time to sing him goodnight. 

"Rest, my little love,

Sleep, my little dove.

When the dawn does break,

Then shall you awake."

The sweet melody played on and on repetitively, soothing his jagged nerves with its soft chords. It echoed in every corner of the room, his mother's voice calm and hushed. Rowen could feel her smooth hand caress his burning cheek, and he could feel her unblemished lips press briefly against his forehead. He was home again – at last – in his familiar bed, with no worries about him.

With that, Rowen's eyes closed, a drop of rain spattering on the spot where he imagined the kiss was planted – a silent tear of pain or fear, no one could tell.

@~~`~~~

The sky cried for the Ronins all night, big, slanting tears dripping from the sorrowful heaven's eyes. Every time he sniffled, the thunder buckled the clouds, and every time he wailed in anguish, the lightning cracked the ground. Ryo watched throughout the night with mysticism gleaming in his cobalt eyes. The sky felt his son Strata's torment and suffering. His friend did have a connection with empyrean after all.

Anxiously, Wildfire awaited for the sunrise, hoping that, although this might possibly be the last (if not the first) one he would ever see, it might be the most glorious. But it was not fated to be. The sun appeared to never rise from her bed over the edge of Japan; the black clouds swallowed her greedily up before she could even open her sleep-fogged eyes. 

Elsewhere in the house, Ryo heard a small stirring – the pitter-patter of feet on the wooden floor. It was coming from next door, and if he had had the money to bet, he believed it to be Rowen who was making the tiny commotion. 

Sure enough, when the door to Wildfire's room croaked open, it was his blue-haired friend standing motionlessly in the frame. "You're awake, I see," he observed groggily.

"For once in my life, yes, I am – at four o'clock, too."

"She will not come up this morning. It is a bad luck for her to shine on such a black day. Today the evil storm shall rule until some light can be found underneath the mayhem."

It took Ryo a few minutes to realize that Rowen meant the sun. It all sounded so sinister, so foreboding. "And how do you know all of this?"

"She whispered it to the moon last night, and before he disappeared he enlightened the rain, which in turn informed me as I drifted off to sleep. Understand that we are linked as one through the great chain of the sky. Mother tells father; father tells one son; one brother tells the other. You see, a chain – one big, unending loop. Like you and Earth and Fire."

Ryo had never thought of it that way. His forehead creased as he trained his eyes on his friend. He knew Rowen was intelligent, he simply never knew he was so wise. For there is a fine line between intelligence and wisdom, as Ryo had just discovered, one that is rarely noticed or acknowledged. Wisdom comes with experience, and intelligence you are merely born with; you cannot attain intelligence, but you can attain wisdom. "I understand," Wildfire admitted, and he truly did for the first time. 

@~~`~~~

The rest of the boys awoke to the familiar smell of toasted bread and eggs. Quickly the stretched their weary legs and scrambled down the stairs into the kitchen for what could be their final meal. After this breakfast the Ronin Warriors would be heading out into their first battle in over a week. Instead of worrying about last minute strategies and tactics, the five sat down for a meal they would not soon forget. It was a feast by all means, for it would have to sustain them throughout the rest of the day, especially Kento. Everyone indulged himself in Mia's fantastic cooking without so much as a thought about war dancing in his head; there was merely pleasant conversation until the conclusion of the fine meal. 

After that, everything changed, everyone changed.


	8. Dawn of the Great Eclipse

Chapter Eight – Dawn of the Great Eclipse ****

Chapter Eight – Dawn of the Great Eclipse

The rainbow of soldiers gathered to form a semicircle in the pouring rain. Water dripped off of their noses in fat drops, splashing onto the grass. The rain slipped its sodden hand down the front of their subarmors, leaving wet trails from its watery fingers. 

The warriors were as quiet as the rain, silently practicing their moves on one another. The sound of swords clanking barely rose above the drone of the rushing water. Only their individual selves could hear their grunts of anger and frustration. Rowen drew his Hankyu from his back, grasping an arrow from his quiver as well. He aimed at a far off Ginkou tree, his eyes narrowing on a knot in its bark. He pulled the string taut, letting the water trickle down the bit of wire to his gloved fingertips. Then he released the string. 

The arrow went whizzing down over the sloping valley walls, straight to the tree shaking violently in protest. Just as it was about to penetrate the trunk, a familiar figure stepped out from behind the tree. "Miri!" Rowen shrieked with all of his might. "Move out of the way now!" 

She never listened. Instead of dodging the arrow, she caught it with her bare hands, never even wincing. Carelessly Mirichu threw the bit of golden metal to the side, paying no mind to just how close to death she had come. 

Why didn't I detect her? Rowen screamed angrily to himself. I could have killed her! He felt foolish and stupid like he had last night. He had almost killed his best friend. 

Slowly, Miri made her way up the rising hill, taking her time like she was the only person in the world that mattered. Trailing behind her was the Ancient One accompanied by Anubis. So that's where those two had been… All throughout the climb, Mirichu kept her eyes focused on Rowen, scanning his face for some reaction other than shock. She never got one until she was standing inches from his trembling form. In the instant she had reached the top of the hill and moved to his side, he went from concerned friend to angry stranger. 

"I could have killed you! Are you stupid or something?" Rowen barked as though he had never felt anything toward her other than hate. 

"I knew what I was doing, Rowen. I was fast enough to catch it. There was no danger." 

"No danger? No danger! Are you crazy? My arrows fly at unimaginable speeds and you step right into the path of one, knowing that it is coming? You HAVE to be nuts!"

Noticing that the group was staring at the both of them, Miri suggested they move off to the side to finish the conversation. "What is it that you have to say to me exactly?" she inquired greedily, angrily.

"Why did you lie to me, repeatedly? Did you think I would never find out?"

"I didn't think it was necessary for you to know. What business is it of yours anyway? I control my life; I never try to control yours."

"Listen very carefully, Mirichu, so that maybe I can penetrate that think skull of yours. I cannot, no, I will not let you throw your life away just because you want to fight like a warrior. The point is that you are not one, and you never will be. To be a warrior means-"

"What? That I have to be a man? Nope, sorry, but I don't believe that for one second. If I want to fight in this war, then, dammit, I will, and no man or warrior, for that matter, is going to keep me out of it."

Rowen was once again furious with the woman who was supposed to be his best friend. He couldn't take her when she was so stubborn and so determined to always be right. "Dammit, Miri! What do I have to do to get you to see that the only reason I am trying to keep you out of this fight is to keep you safe."

"Are you sure it's not because you want to keep me from spending time with Ryo?" she questioned, grinning because she knew she had discovered something she could exploit to her advantage.

Rowen blinked in disbelief. She hadn't just asked him that. "What a ridiculous question! Of course that's not why I'm saying what I'm saying."

"Yes it is!" she screamed, forcing the other Ronins to look their way again. She glared viciously at them, sending them the clear signal that their attentions were not wanted or needed. "You're jealous because I love Ryo and not you!"

Both of them stared at each other in shock. Every surrounding sound ceased, and there was only the chorus of their pounding hearts and their infuriated breaths. Rowen's eyes saddened, it seemed, with this news. They focused on her trim figure clothed in tight yellow garments, creating a sunny feel to the dreary day. Her green eyes widened with surprise at her confession as well. "Wh…what did you just say?"

"I— I love Ryo. And nothing, no, no one can change these feelings, get it? They are here to stay, whether you want them to or not."

The warrior of Strata was silent. What more was there to say? The other secret had been revealed, and she was right; there was nothing he could do or say to change it. So all Rowen said was: "You can come. Move it out before we lose the sparse daylight that we have."

Disappointed, Miri followed Rowen over to the circle of soldiers, all glistening wet in their subarmors. She infiltrated the perimeter and stepped into the center so she would have their full attentions. "Listen to me, and listen well. I am fighting with you guys today, and I expect you will treat me as an equal, not as a hindrance, there to slow you down. I will fight my hardest for you as well as the Earth. Spend all your time trying to protect me and you might only succeed in losing another chance to take down Talpa." The raven woman slipped delicately out of the limelight and next to Ryo, astutely observing the envious countenance Rowen wore. 

"Go, my warriors, and do not fail me," the Ancient One bellowed almost fiercely. "Have faith in not only yourselves, but in your compatriots. The best allies are the ones in disguise." 

Only Mirichu grasped the true meaning to his statement.

@~~`~~~

It was once nicknamed the Valley of the Emperor – a wide, lush gorge of serenity sleeping between one Great Mountain and another – but now it had been dubbed the infamous Valley of the Dead. For almost one thousand years ago it was in this valley that 10,000 unfortunate Japanese soldiers marched to their dooms, unaware of the lurking Dynasty invaders. 

The Valley of the Dead slumbered halfway between the city of Toyama and Mia's house. It was incredibly green, like a color one could only dream of. There were no roads or paths that could be seen, simply unmarred grasses and weeds for miles around, free from humanity and its destructive nature. Creeks of silver rainwater poured as fine, Earthly wine from the holes in the mountains' sides, rushing down their slippery slopes to crash into the small stream in the valley's minute forest of cherry blossom trees and Ginkou trees. A thick white mist obscured the aesthetic appearance of most of the basin, covering the center of the glen with intense ivory, but fading to wisps of fog the hue of fresh milk as the altitude steadily climbed; however, it added a gentle look of peace to itself.

But what appears to be peaceful is not always so. 

As Rowen rounded a bend in the mountain highway, he glanced back to make sure the other jeep was still with him. His speeds had alternated between incredibly fast followed by an incredibly slow. "What is with you, Rowen?" Cye queried as his head peeped out from the back seat to stare at the driver. "Pick a speed and keep with it. Geez, you've never been nervous before a battle before."

"Lay off him, Cye," Sage scolded. "Rowen's always been cautious when it comes to-"

"Everything."

"-battle. Besides, we are fighting someone we've never fought before, and she's a woman. He can drive however he wants."

Cye apologized, then returned to keeping lookout for the Mia's jeep behind them.

Although Mia had not come, the boys needed transportation. So Rowen took Sage and Cye in his jeep, and Kento took Anubis and Mirichu in Mia's. As usual, Ryo rode White Blaze, bringing up the rear of the bizarre train. 

Sage let his eyes wander up and down the valley walls as he strained to see the actual veld below the silken blanket. He thought he saw movement, but he deemed the flutter of the trees and fog as animal motions. Then, however, he instantly changed his mind about that. 

A faintly blue-haired woman had perched herself on a small precipice just above the rim of the haze. Her dazzling blue eyes shone with the fire of evil and hatred. She was slender and beautiful, wearing an outfit of rags crudely constructed into a shirt, with a tight gray leotard and a pair of ivory pants finishing the look. Two long, thin swords constructed of resplendent silver criss-crossed on her back, deadly and magical at the same time. She proudly wore a necklace with a gold pendant and red tassels around her neck as though it were a trophy of some sort. 

"She's here! Stop the car!" Sage cried, pointing frantically at the cliff's sheer face.

The jeep screeched to a halt, the one behind following its example. The warriors piled out anxiously, practically clambering over one other to get a glimpse of their new arch rival. Her beauty astounded the boys, but even then they detected the deadly power she controlled. As she hollered out orders to the soldiers hidden under the massive white cloud, the Ronin Warriors felt as though they were mere marionettes, and this woman was the one pulling their strings. 

She doesn't look so tough, Mirichu mumbled to herself. "So she's the one who's going to do it…"

Miri thought that no one had heard her words until Rowen glanced her way and asked with angry curiosity, "What is it she's going to do exactly?"

Surprised, Mirichu fumbled with her response, trying to make up some answer he would accept. "Um, ah, she's supposed to help Talpa dominate the world."

Cye turned and smiled reassuringly at the speechless woman. "Don't fret, Miri, hon. We'll stop her before she even gets the chance."

"That's right, Cye, WE will… together, INCLUDING me," she nodded. The other Ronins sighed, but decided not to pursue the argument at this critical moment. 

Ryo leaned toward Rowen, wondering, "I thought they were supposed to be in Toyama, not this close to Mia's house. How are we going to launch a surprise attack from plain sight?"

"Well, at least she hasn't seen us yet." The moment Rowen spoke those words, it was only natural for the enemy to finally notice them.

The chime of bells swooped down out of the air on a wind, carrying with it petals of cherry blossom trees. Her sharp, clear voice echoed, not because of the great mountains, but because it was naturally that way. "I see you Ronin Warriors have finally decided to show up for this momentous occasion. We had planned on taking you by ambush at your little hideout; however, this will do me so much better. Now I, Lady Kayura, can kill all five, six, SEVEN warriors? And just who is this ravishing woman? She cannot possibly with you six sorry boys. You know, she would fare so much better under Talpa's rulings, don't you think? Perhaps if you warriors will just surrender her now, I will not have to take her by such vicious force that I might damage her pretty face. By that time she will be of no use to you."

Rowen, forgetting his obvious anger with Miri, stepped in front of her with his arm guarding her protectively. "You will be doing no such thing, Lady Whatever-your-name-is."

"That's Lady Kayura to you! But you don't need to bother memorizing it, for you will be dead soon enough." Kayura turned her face to the valley below them and the haze mysteriously lifted. Beneath the Ronin Warriors lay the Valley of the Dead, quaking with the furious footsteps of the 10,000 fallen soldiers resurrected to once again do battle; but this time they were fighting for the exact people they had once fought against. "Come, my hapless cadavers! Rise and avenge your deaths! These are the warriors that killed you 1000 years ago! Take your long awaited revenge, so that you may once again rest in peace!" The twisted, rotting corpses obeyed, clawing their way up the cliff side, their figures writhing obscenely as they became almost one with the dirt into which they had once decayed. 

"There's no way we can fight all these guys once they reach this road!" Sage exclaimed feverishly. "With only the seven of us to fight against 10,000, how can we defeat them?"

"Let me show you how to win this fight," Ryo returned with assuredness in his voice. "Armor of Wildfire! Dao chi!" Cherry blossoms fluttered around him as crimson light exploded with a rage from Ryo's fists. His armor formed from these blossoms by the magic of the gods. He felt his power grow, and the strength of his Awakening blossom into an inferno inside him.

The other warriors followed his example, calling forth their armors as well. 

"Armor of Halo! Dao chi!"

"Armor of Strata! Dao inochi!"

"Armor of Hardrock! Dao chi!"

"Armor of the Torrent! Dao chi!"

"Cruelty to Arms!"

Anubis seemed so out of place to the others, but he didn't appear to mind it at this point in time. Instead, he donned his armor, too, and prepared to fight along their sides instead of along Lady Kayura's. 

By this time the army of corpses had advanced up the mountainside so far that their molting flesh was splattering on the pavement. They moved with stiff, dead joints, their bones creaking with the weight they supported. Each body remained in the ancient armor it had died in, only most of the once beautiful fabric had disintegrated with age and decay. They moved slowly, but they also moved steadily, so they covered a lot of ground in minutes. Their pace never wavered for a second. 

"Thunderbolt cut!"

A brilliant flash of light ripped through the air and severed nearly twenty-five of the undead beasts. Arms and legs rained upon roadway like a violent thunderstorm had just passed through the mountains. In its aftermath it merely left twitching torsos and heads squirming with a dissipating fury. "Hardly a dent!" Sage shouted, cursing his sword's lacking power. Casually, he looked over the carnage, taking no mind to the groping hands without arms attached to them.

"Perhaps this might help… Super Wave Smasher!" Water and anger poured from the end of Cye's Yari, blasting into the freshest onslaught of the living dead. They squealed in sheer agony as their bodies were shredded from the intense pressure of the water. The stench of 1000-year-old breath clung viciously to the stale mountain air, nauseating the warriors. When Cye perused the scene – staring at the mounds of glistening wet human skin – he discovered that his weapon, too, had only succeeded in destroying about thirty soldiers. "Oh hell! This isn't working! Maybe Ryo should take a turn…"

"Maybe Ryo doesn't have time," Miri observed cleverly, with anxiety tightening her throat, as more than one hundred creatures clambered soundlessly over the roadside and onto the blacktop that was steaming with water and sweat. 

Kento stepped forward, his lips curling up at their ends in a sly grin. "Allow me, fellows."

"Kento," yelped Rowen, "you can't fight all these guys off!"

"I'm not going to. I'm going to do what the rest of you can't do: bury them again." Everyone looked at one another quizzically, wondering what Hardrock could possibly mean. But all was soon revealed as Kento stepped to the edge of the cliff, pressed his hands together as if he were praying, and closed his eyes. 

An orange halo encircled his meditating figure while the ground beneath their feet began to tremble. The monsters' heads lifted at the sudden, imminent danger, and they shrieked like a chorus of ferocious animals, begging for a second chance at life. Mirichu grabbed her ears to quell some of the terrible sounds that pierced the air, but their cries of rage and torture pierced the very core of her. Abruptly, the hillside beneath the army's feet started to quiver and peel away from the Great Mountain to which it clung so desperately. An avalanche of rock and mud poured down into the valley below, engulfing the carcasses of the soldiers as a hungry wolf would any rabbit. There was the sound of a fantastic gulp as the famished Earth swallowed up every last body, and then nothing but the silence that accompanies the eye of the tornado was left in the air.

"I'm guessing that was Kento's Awakening," Cye muttered in astonishment to the equally amazed Sage.

"I guess so."

"Pretty neat, huh, guys?" the warrior asked as he spun around to face the troop. 

"You could say that," Anubis murmured, keeping a wary eye on the woman standing on the opposite cliff.

Lady Kayura sprang into the air, practically hovering for a moment on a tiny cloud beside them, then landing softly on a closer escarpment. "How dare you bury those sentinels I worked so hard to uncover! You will pay for your insolence."

"Sorry if we didn't want to die; we didn't mean to stop your druids from tearing us to shreds," Anubis countered. "We'll never do it again."

"Good. Now that we've come to a greater understanding… Dynasty soldiers! I command you to come forth and dispatch the Ronin Warriors!" With the eerie creak of what sounded like the rusted hinges of a door, fifty Dynasty troopers materialized in the valley. This time the Ronins were prepared to bring the fight to them. 

Cye, Kento, Sage, Miri and Anubis propelled themselves over the ledge, hopping from one crag to another on their way to the bottom of the pit. All of the warriors were surprised to see Mirichu's grace as she leaped expertly left and right, always maintaining her footing. Had they not been in the situation that they were, Sage probably would have made a crack about this ability being directly related to her ballet routine. And he couldn't know for sure, but maybe that was why she practiced that dance – to achieve this masterful skill of elegance and perfection. 

Meanwhile, Rowen and Ryo engaged in a frantic battle with Lady Kayura. She had launched herself across the several-miles-wide gorge to plant herself firmly next to the two. Smoothly, the cobalt-haired woman withdrew her twin jitte from their sheaths on her back, crossing them across her chest and grinning wickedly. "You know, I've contemplated this fight ever since Talpa told me of you five warriors. And I've always wondered…"

"What?" Ryo queried impatiently. 

"What color will you bleed?" With that, Kayura snapped the tip of her sword across the tender flesh of Ryo's face, slitting the skin in a crisp, straight line. Fiery scarlet liquid wept like angry tears from the wound, oozing down his contorted face. "Red – ordinary – just like the rest of them. Do you fight like them, too? Weak, frail, useless?"

"You shall soon see," Ryo growled while he dabbed the cut briefly with his fingertips. It was then that he dove at the slender woman, his katanas driving directly toward her heart. "Now let's see what color you bleed!" He never found out. 

Kayura dodged the attack effortlessly. With the flick of her toe, she went sailing into the air high above their heads. She laughed tauntingly at the pair. "Definitely like all the others! You can't enough score a near miss on an attack. You humans are truly pitiful, truly. If I didn't despise you so much, I might actually feel some remorse for you."

"A coward's words," Rowen countered, letting his armor lift him into the air to fight her. 

"Call me a coward!" she roared with the hatred of all 10,000 fallen soldiers. 

"Oops, did I hit a nerve? You women are so fragile!"

Kayura was fuming. Never in her 428-year-long existence had she experienced so much malevolence and so much loathing for anyone. In her frenzy, Kayura lost the use of most of her senses; she could merely hear and see, but ignored the other three, unlike a skilled samurai. She charged him with every ounce of pain she had ever felt, uncaring of anything else but destroying this man. "You WILL die!"

But as Kayura reached Rowen's body, he used her own move against her, leaping higher into the air and using her shoulder as a booster. His thick metal boot slammed into her back, and they both heard the repulsive crack of her shoulder bade splitting in half, the hidden bone suddenly protruding through her ivory skin, soaking her rags in blood. "Red, I see. The color of the ordinary, weak, frail and useless." 

Her body was hurled into the mountain's face, creating an ovular indentation in its stony flesh. Kayura's head whipped back with the shock, and she howled to the heavens with a pain yet unknown to the warriors. "Lord Talpa," she squeaked pathetically, "Master of Evil and Ruler of the Nether Realm, hear my plea. Restore my body so that I may eliminate the Ronin Warriors for you. Do not let me die with unfinished business…"

Thunder rumbled maliciously overhead, and Rowen heard the heavens cry back an answer to her. "Kayura…" With that bellow, six Nether Sprits filtered down between the second onslaught of storm clouds and encompassed the trembling woman with their ethereal arms. The swirling ghosts moaned horrifically as they performed their "miracle" on the dying general. In turn, Kayura let out a painful wailing, which morphed into a heinous snickering. "Nice moves, Rowen of the Strata. You warriors thought you could defeat me, but, ah, you forget that I am protected by the Master of your Destinies. Talpa will not stand for such disrespect, so he has asked me, and wisely so, to finish you off now. No more time to waste on testing one another's strength. It is time for you to see what the other side looks like!"

Rowen hurried back down to support Ryo, where they awaited the worst. White Blaze remained protectively in front of them, but all three of them knew that if something really awful were to befall them in that instant, even White Blaze could not save them. 

Kayura chuckled one last time before she spoke serenely. "The stars cry out for your demise. I shall only grant them their wish. Star Sword Scream!" With an elegant swoop of one of her jitte followed by another crossing swoop of the other one, a funnel of mysterious water began to form and start rotating like a waterspout above her head. It pulsed heatedly before descending upon their shocked forms and engulfing all three with one swallow. 

Rowen and Ryo boomed with the incredible pain as they were flung in opposite directions from one another into the mountainside. White Blaze crashed onto the ground in a flutter of black and white. The two young men groaned in agony at their paralysis and their pain. "Never mess with a woman, especially when she's a general of an undead infantry," she scoffed, clucking her tongue.

Below in the fracas Mirichu somehow managed to hear the pair's screams. "Ryo! Rowen!" She saw their bodies fly into the rock face, shattering her faith in herself. "Oh my god…"

"What is it, Miri?" Sage inquired almost casually as he had been engaged in a fight with several Dynasty troopers and had not heard the fight above.

Tears streamed down her face freely while she walked toward the foot of the Great Mountain. Mirichu sniffled thickly, every fear she had ever harbored collected inside her body. It seemed as though the soldiers had parted for her, and like a beacon of a lighthouse, they lead her to her Fate. "Is it time already?" she whimpered miserably to the trees in the little forest. They answered her with a moan as the mountain wind tore their limbs, sending leaves scattering helplessly.

"Where are you going, Miri?" Sage demanded after her, but he could not reach her. Soon he was surrounded by an enclosing group of gray-blue armors, angrily shoving their weapons at him. They moved in so tight that he could barely swing his sword to fight back. "Miri! Come back! Don't go up there!" She did not even turn her head. Instead she walked onward to the puzzling trail that had just surfaced on the bluff. She was possessed.

Mirichu climbed the path slowly. Each step appeared planned and careful; and each step had a purpose not known to any of the Ronins or Anubis. Her body was straight as Rowen's arrows, and her balance was perfect. Never once did she teeter on any of the slick, slanted stones for even one second. A greater force, an unseen one, controlled Miri.

The moment her foot fell upon the asphalt she reverted to the old Mirichu, or so it seemed. The wind fluttered in a great gust, sweeping her long, jet-black hair over her shoulders and throwing it around carelessly. She inhaled deeply, bracing herself for what she was about to reveal. With longing eyes, Miri looked upon Rowen, then Ryo. Her last of her tears was blown across her cheek and down onto the Valley of the Dead, exploding like a nuclear bomb somewhere below them. And with the conclusion of her sobbing, the simple woman transformed into greatness even she did not expect to become. "Armor of the Eclipse! Dao inochi!"

Golden light pulsed rapidly around her, a ray from the sun shooting out from her exposed palm to wrap about her form as a python. Mirichu wore nothing for a microsecond as a string of cherry blossoms stripped off her clothes only to almost instantly replace them with a saffron armor that gleamed from an inward source of light. She was draped in white and yellow metal from head to toe, with a helmet – adorned with a row of five gold spikes leading down the back of it – completing the ensemble. Appearing in her hand was a flaxen pole decorated with a sparkling ruby at one tip and a sickly-orange topaz at the other, and they sparkled with mischief. Both the top and the bottom of the staff possessed a curved metal hook, perfect for skewering then gutting the enemy. The back curves to these points were serrated to add an extra painful effect for the unfortunate soul, as well. 

Everyone, including the Dynasty army, stopped to witness the metamorphosis. Every mouth stood agape with shock, especially Rowen and Anubis'.

"Mirichu is a Ronin? But how?" exclaimed Rowen.

"A tenth armor? Is that possible?" mumbled Anubis.

Kayura stared at her new opponent with envy. Why was it that everyone had an armor but she? "Another competitor? Little girl has come to lose a fight, I see."

"No," Mirichu corrected, "little girl has come to kick your ass!"


	9. The Sacrifices We Make

Chapter Nine – The Sacrifices We Make ****

Chapter Nine – The Sacrifices We Make

No, Miri, no! What are you doing? Trying to get yourself killed? You can't possibly face her when Ryo and I can't even get deal out a lasting punishment. It's suicide!

Rowen was in a state of panic. Mirichu was fighting Lady Kayura by herself, and if she were to get into trouble there was nothing he could do. Both Ryo and he were paralyzed, motionless masses of metal and weapons against the crags of the Great Mountains. There could only be one outcome to this fight, and Rowen hated to think what it could be.

"So you must be the woman about which Dais spoke so highly. Yes, you have to be. He told me of your great beauty, your unending spunk and your fighting skills. However, I have yet to be truly impressed. And what might be this little flower's virtue: companionship, kindness, patience?"

"Try love."

"No thanks, makes me gag. Welcome to my arena, Armor of the Eclipse. Now let's see just how good of a samurai you really are." Kayura stood there scrutinizing the young woman mercilessly from head to toe, admiring her armor as well as the points on her formidable Bo. Lady Kayura waited long enough without making a single move so that Miri would be lured into thinking that she was not as vicious as she actually was. When nothing came from the golden goddess, the general was forced to launch an attack. 

Swords flashed like lightning as they sliced the air on their murderous pathway to Miri's innocent flesh. The speed at which they were sailing was unthinkable. But Miri, anticipating this move, thrust her staff into the course of the jitte in time to stop their bombardment upon her. Kayura stood with a countenance of amazement on her face. No one had ever been fast enough before to defer the path of her Starlight Swords. Exactly who was this woman?

Quickly, the general yanked back her jitte and swung them into a position that formed an X across her chest. "You'll have to be faster than that, Lady Kayura, if you ever want to see my blood spilled," taunted Miri with a devilish twinkle in her emerald eyes. 

"This fast enough for you?" she retorted, responding with a shower of well-placed slashes upon her enemy from her Starlight Swords. 

As Miri hopped effortlessly from one precipice to another, all the while dodging the arcs of the silver lightning, she insulted Kayura in the worst possible way – by calling her sluggish. "Not nearly enough. Perhaps if you were to spend more time on concentrating where I'm going to land than where I really am, then maybe you'll actually score a hit or two."

On the ledge almost directly across from Miri and only a few feet away, Kayura halted her attack, placing one hand sternly on her hip. "Who is this fast and agile creature I see looming before me? She moves with the speed of a cheetah and the grace of a gazelle. She is far too quick to be a true Ronin." While Miri glared down at Rowen, as if advising him to pay attention to what the mad woman was mumbling, she lost her necessary concentration on her opponent. It was the stupidest move she could have made. "However, she is just as dumb as they are, I'm afraid." With that, Kayura lunged at the new warrior of the Eclipse, slashing the area of tender meat right above Miri's left eye with the extreme tip of her jitte. 

Blood gushed sickeningly from the horrific wound, sanguine red fluid stinging her eyes and temporarily blinding her. Miri's hand instinctually touched the gash above her eyebrow to cease the bleeding, but when she fingered it, she felt something squishy and wet underneath all the blood – exposed muscle. It quivered violently at the foreign touch of her hands, and Miri felt intensely nauseous. It felt like a fat, writhing earthworm beneath the surface of her skin.

Then abruptly, her eyelids jammed shut as a sharp, biting pain gnawed hungrily at her gut. Mirichu groaned, her arms shooting out and groping blindly for what had caused the tortuous agony. Kayura merely cackled evilly as she retracted the butt of one of her swords from the unyielding abdomen of Miri's shining armor, now slick with her own blood diluted by the rains. 

Knowing that she could not win fighting blind, Mirichu leapt backwards, believing her armor to protect her. She landed on ledge high above the gleeful general and immediately wiped the scarlet liquid from her eyes only to discover that she did not want to see after all. 

Below in the valley were three of the Ronin Warriors and the former Dark Warlord Anubis. They were buffeting the Dynasty soldiers' attacks as best they could, but they were so severely out numbered that they were easily being defeated. Each warrior had at least one hundred troopers closing in on him, ever tightening their circle to constrict his fighting capabilities. Mirichu wanted to scream to them to not give up, that there was still a hidden hope that they had yet to see. She wanted to remind them about their Awakenings and their secret strengths that they could not remember they could manipulate. But her throat wouldn't let her squeak out one word. The carnage around her was unbelievable, and it choked her with its gore-covered fingers. 

Rowen and Ryo lay immobile on the rocky mountainside, helplessly watching as Mirichu lost the battle with Lady Kayura and their friends lost their battle with the sentinels. Hard rain battered their faces, which were red with the embarrassment of being useless and the tears that the water had washed away. And Miri wanted to cry out to them, too. She wanted to tell them that there was one chance left to destroy Kayura and her goons and one more time that they could take Talpa down with her. She wanted to sweetly kiss them both and swear that, although Fate seemed like a cruel bitch, she always had the right idea in mind and that all things happen for a greater purpose. But once again, Mirichu found it impossible to even move her mouth to form a single word.

And finally, Miri looked down at herself. She saw her sparkling armor, as fantastic and beautiful as the Ancient One had told her it would be. The gold appeared lustrous and new, as if never worn before, and except for the remaining streaks of crimson, it was perfect. Her Bo was deadly looking from whichever perspective someone chose to see it. Mirichu could feel her strength returning, the spark within her that she had thought she had never possessed igniting from the flick of a long forgotten match. And she wanted to remind herself that this feeling would not last much longer and that the moment this war was over, it would die again – she would die again. She wanted to promise herself that she would always cherish this sudden faith she had in herself, and she would never forget the love she had for her friends. But again Miri could not even assemble the words in her head, and Kayura was going to see to it that Mirichu never did.

The beautiful Dynasty general vaulted upwards, arching her back and raising her Starlight Swords above her head to strike down Eclipse. At the last possible millisecond, Mirichu stepped out of the way of the descending danger, barely missing the pointed end to the sword. Shards of stone splintered from the body of the granite giant, rebounding off of the saffron armor. 

As Mirichu lay face down, lips pressed against the rock, Kayura descended upon her, grabbing her roughly by the arm and twisting it cruelly. "I'll fix you, you little bitch. Call me slow!" The lady yanked viciously, listening for the delicious pop of a dislocated bone. Miri pleaded for help, but neither Rowen nor Ryo could lift a finger to save her. 

"Sage! For the love of god, save Miri now!" Rowen screamed at the top of his lungs in sheer panic. His breathing was out of control, and he was sweating bullets. Mirichu was so close to death and there was nothing he could do but wait for someone else to rescue his fair maiden.

Meanwhile, Sage was preoccupied with nearly one hundred soldiers. They crowded him until he could barely gasp at the air. His only hope to at least make a dent in them was his special attack. Only problem was, ironically, there wasn't enough room for him to get his Datchi into attack mode. He was going to be swallowed up by these soldiers very shortly, and then he would miss what he'd been waiting for since the beginning: a chance to defeat Talpa. 

"Never!" Sage turned his face skyward at this incredible shriek of defiance. It sounded like, no, it was – it was Mirichu's voice! Jesus! yelped Sage to himself. Mirichu's in trouble. What could he do? What was there for him to do? He had no where to maneuver, no way he could break free of this deadly circle. Unless…

"Cye! Hey, man, if I can make you enough room, can you try to use your Awakening to get these bastard Dynasty goons out of our way?"

Cye shoved back a guard as he craned his head to stare at Sage with curious eyes. "I suppose I could, but I haven't had much of a chance to work with my power. I might only end up making things worse for us, and then where would we be?"

"Hey, you're our only hope right now. Rowen and Ryo can't move, Anubis and Kento are being squashed with troopers, and Miri's been captured by Lady Kayura."

With those last words, Cye spun in a wild circle, knocking away practically fifteen sentinels in his fury. "Miri's in trouble? Why didn't you say so in the first place? I'll do anything if it means saving her life!"

Sage nodded eagerly, drawing his huge, trembling sword close to his body in order to transfer some of his strength into it. The Datchi filled with a green light – the light of wisdom – as the warrior of Halo closed his eyes and trusted his heart to do all the fighting for him. Momentarily the troopers were caught off guard, leaving Sage enough time to thrust the sword sharply forward through two of them blocking his way. Then he whipped the sword wildly left and right, dispatching more and more of the demon men as he prepared to launch his patented attack. "Thunderbolt…" Suddenly, he swung the Datchi directly over his head – ripping apart the body of the nearest unfortunate soldier – and the verdant light sprayed down upon his opponents with a quiet wrath. "Cut!"

Screeches of terror filled the air as their meaningless lives shriveled and fizzed away, leaving nothing but gray smoke to occupy the spaces they once had. "Do it now, Cye! I'll ward as many off as I can until you finish the rites to activate your power."

"No," Cye ordered firmly, "you must run as far up the mountain as you can, and get the others to do the same as well. If you remain down here you will die with them. Now go, and hurry! Save Mirichu. I'll be there as soon as I get rid of these guys."

Sage naturally protested, but he suspected that Cye knew what he was doing and that he would be fine. He fought the others free from their prisons made of troopers and raced with them up the side of the mountain as fast as his legs could carry him. They reached the roadway just as the warrior of the Torrent had completed his rites.

The rain began to fall harder and faster, like a typhoon was coming. It poured until the Ronins could no longer see the man he was standing next to or even his own hand. A curtain of shimmering silver had surrounded them, driving harder and harder into their bodies until their muscles ached with the pain of a billion needles pounding into them at once. 

Down in the Valley of the Dead, Cye kneeled with his hands clasped together, his thumbs and index fingers forming an L. He touched his thumbs to his lips and hummed a bizarre tune that even he had never even heard, letting the soft vibrations tingle his hands. The rain clouds shivered in response to his music and obeyed his silent commands. Upon the Earth they spewed every drop of water within their bellies, with a loud belch of thunder accompanying the rain. It pervaded the gorge, turning it into a giant bowl of a soup made of Dynasty soldiers. The growing pool submerged Cye while sweeping the army away on its strong currents. They washed out of the basin through the tiny slit between one Great Mountain and another, leading them down toward the dead Toyama.

When most of the water had drained away, only a few trees and Cye remained. The ground had been transformed into a marsh, but at least they were free of the brainless soldiers. The aqua warrior ascended the rocky stairs to join his friends' sides.

The troop separated quickly, each one rushing off to help another. Kento hastened off to Rowen's side just as he shook off most of the lingering effects of Kayura's Star Attack. Strata clambered hastily to his feet, extending and contracting his fingers to work his sore muscles. "You okay, buddy? We saw that you received most of the brunt of the attack."

"I'm fine," Rowen barked curtly, dusting off his now brown armor. "Where's Miri? Is she all right? Did you finish off Lady Kayura yet?"

"Whoa, whoa! Slow down. Miri's still with Kayura – or in her possession I should say – so I don't know if she's okay or not."

"What do you mean you don't know! She could be dying and you don't even care!" Rowen lunged at Kento, grabbing him roughly by the base of his neck and shaking him with fury. Hardrock was thrown completely off guard by the attack, and he stumbled backwards, falling beneath Strata's body, which was heavy with the weight of his armor. "What kind of a friend are you anyway?"

"Let go, Rowen," Kento grunted out, his chest heaving with all its might just to get air into his lungs. "Don't make me hurt you. You're my friend."

"And Miri's not?" He squeezed tighter, and Kento was forced to knock Rowen's weak and shaking hands away harshly. 

The rain had lessened to a gentle drizzle – the clouds having emptied themselves on the land already – barely enough to mask Rowen's cascading tears. "Oh god, Kento, I'm so sorry. This whole war has been such a complete disaster. I don't— I don't know how to handle all of this!" He collapsed to his knees again, choking on his sobs as he tried to swallow his fears and his sorrows.

Rowen had never felt more vulnerable, more susceptible in his entire life. There he sat – under the mourning sky – weak and useless, humble beneath the shadow of a scornful Fate. He could do nothing for Mirichu, nothing for his friends, nothing for the Earth. Kento sat down beside him and looked his friend straight in the face. "Sage is going to rescue Mirichu. She'll be fine. Sage loves Miri, too, and he would risk everything to save her and keep her from harm."

"I know that, Kento, but the point is that I can't do anything to help. I can't assist Sage because I can barely even move my damn fingers! I just sit here on my sorry, debilitated ass as I watch someone else carry out the mission I should have completed!" Strata was breathing hard, his frustrated wrath wheezing in his gasps as he stared on at the snow-capped mountain top. 

"Rowen! Rowen! How're you feeling, man?"

"Ryo?" he shouted excitedly. "You can move?"

"Just give it a few more minutes, man, and it'll all wear off in a jiffy. You'll be as good as new, except maybe a little stiff in the joints."

"Thank god! Then we can finish this unending nightmare!" Kento exclaimed gleefully.

"Get off of her!" The anguished scream resonated from high above the soldiers' heads, in the chilly peaks of the Great Mountains. They squinted their eyes to see three glimmering figures in a sharp cleft amongst some boulders. Sage, in his brilliant green armor, waited anxiously with the edge of his Datchi sparkling happily with the thought of shredding through the Dynasty general's neck to slice the artery pulsing with her life blood. 

Kayura leaned over Miri's slumped figure, her jitte poised over her chest, ready like a cobra to strike the fatal wound at long last. "Make a move, and Eclipse is as dead as those under this valley. Even her amazing armor cannot withstand the blade of my Starlight Sword."

Sage had to think very fast. If he didn't design a scheme quickly, Mirichu would die and the world would lose hope. He could feel an out-of-place stirring within his bones, an unmatched tingle he had never experienced before. But somehow he knew exactly what was beckoning to him. Sage closed his eyes and waited for it to speak to him, to tell him how to use it to its fullest advantage. And, sure enough, it spoke. And he listened.

Halo closed his eyes, letting his Awakening do all of the work for him. His hands drifted straight up in front of him, and his palms opened as the moon to Lady Kayura. "What are you doing, Halo?" she questioned nervously as she watched the ghostly figure's ballet. He didn't reply; he simply tensed his muscles and squeezed his eyes shut tighter. 

His hands began to glow with an odd light and his fingers became translucent – a milky yellow luminescence devouring half of his arms – as he absorbed all the light around them. Steadily the world grew darker, bleaker as Sage consumed every speck of light into himself until there was nothing left for him to take. Mirichu's Eclipse armor had its golden sheen drained away as the Halo armor eagerly drank it in. The surrounding world became blacker than the darkest shadow in Hell, and all that could be seen was Sage's liquid white body, rippling with the waves of condensed sun and electricity. Sage of Halo became a human star, but unfortunately for Lady Kayura, he was about to super nova.

When her ocean blue eyes had zoomed in as tightly as possible, Sage screamed for the Ronin Warriors to close their eyes. Kayura was so preoccupied with the shining warrior that she never heard one word. His armor exploded – the light of the world bursting from his body into the eyes of the general – an amazing sight heretofore unseen on the planet. The white-gold glow seared her retinas, blinding her permanently. The woman squealed with terror and surprise, covering her face uselessly as she tumbled over her feet and slammed into the rock wall. 

Slowly, color came back to the Earth, filling every orifice and every blackened crevice. Once again Kayura lay whining in pain, begging on her knees for her Master Talpa to heal her. "I just need my vision returned. I was so close; I almost beat them. Now that the Ronin Warriors have revealed all their secrets to me, I can know what to expect. I cannot lose!"

"Kayura," the wind whistled, "if you fail me again, I cannot let you live."

"Please, Master Talpa, just one last chance. If I must die, then I will die to bring you glory."

The sky shook with an evil laughter. "What good would glory do for me? Do not lose, or your afterlife will be an eternal torturing worse than the hottest flame in Hell! Do not waste this chance!" With that, the voice left and Lady Kayura gathered herself. Six more Nether Spirits descended like the Valkaries from the clouds, scooping up her body and waving their wispy arms before her eyes. The lids fluttered open, and Kayura drifted down heavenly. 

"You heard the Master; I must not lose. So who wants to die first?" Kayura stared directly at her nemesis Sage. Her arm shot out in front of her. "You!"

"No!" Mirichu cried, standing proudly from behind. "Me!"

@~~`~~~

"What's going on?" Rowen demanded, jumping up and down excitedly as he tried to see over Ryo's helmeted head. 

"Oh god," Kento mumbled over and over with the monotony of shock.

"What? What, dammit, tell me!"

Ryo turned, with extreme fear quivering on his lips. "She's going to do it! She's going to do it!"

"Who? Kayura? Miri? What's happening up there?"

Wildfire looked Strata dead on, his eyes never wavering from his friend's as he broke the news. "Miri wants to fight Lady Kayura again!"

There was a strain of silence, and then Rowen burst with anger. "What in the name of God is happening? Why hasn't Sage stopped her?"

"Because he's too weak from his attack," Anubis informed. "He never practiced his Awakening, at least not on that grand a scale. He has no fight left in him."

"Great," Rowen snapped. "Well, somebody has to stop her!" Suddenly, Rowen leaped into the air, letting his Strata armor carry upward with alarming speed. When he reached the cleft on which the three stood, he analyzed the situation immediately. I have to get Miri out of here, but I can't take Sage with me, too! They can't escape fast enough! Oh god… Lord, help me.

"A volunteer, I see," Kayura cooed.

Mirichu's eyes narrowed into predatory slits. "You're lucky you can. If Talpa hadn't interfered, you'd be dead on this rock by now!"

"That's Master Talpa to you, bitch. And you've been nothing but a nuisance to me since you arrived here. It's time for me to finish you off! Hii-yaah!" Lady Kayura sprang into the air, her Starlight Swords glistening dangerously above her head. 

"Miri, no!" Rowen yelped out of helplessness. 

"Rowen!" she cried. "Get Sage out of here, and you go, too!" The swords came down on Eclipse, but she managed to block them with her staff. "Go now!" She threw Kayura backwards, sending her reeling into a mountain wall. 

"I can't leave you here and watch you die!" 

He would have protested some more, but Mirichu turned her face – twisted with sadness – to him and said in her softest, most knowing voice, "Then don't watch."

"Miri…" he whispered in shame, lifting the exhausted Sage from his mountain perch. "Come back to me when you're finished trashing this bitch!"

Miri merely nodded slightly, concentrating more on the battle than the two of them. "And tell the others to run as far and as fast as their feet can carry them. I don't want you guys hurt, too, when the blast goes."

"What blast…" he started to ask, but the moment she got a clear shot to punch Kayura away, she dove at Rowen and shoved him off of the edge. "Mirichu…" As the two plummeted to the road below, Strata "clicked" on his armor, easing them to the roadway softly. "Go, we have to go now!"

"Are you crazy?" Ryo questioned incredulously, hitting his friend on his helmet as he tried to knock some sense into him. "You said yourself that we can't leave her fight Kayura alone!"

"Just do as I say! Get White Blaze and have him carry Sage. I can't run with him on my back." So, what else could the warriors do but listen to their stern, distraught friend and obey his relayed commands? Ryo heaved Sage off of Rowen's shoulders and carefully rested him on White Blaze. Then the troop raced off, each head twisting every so often to check on how the battle was going and if his Mirichu Tenku of the Armor of the Eclipse was winning. 

And for a time it appeared as though she was.

@~~`~~~

"Come on, bitch, make a move toward me. You seem pretty good at the defensive, so let's see how you fair on the offensive." Kayura went on taunting Miri like this for some time, but Miri never made a single motion toward the general. Instead, she kept her eyes level on her friends, racing away down the mountain road to only God-knew where. "A piece of chickenshit, I see. I was afraid of that much. Looks like I'm going to have to do all the work around here."

Lady Kayura spun fast, swinging her leg out and swivel-kicking Mirichu. She stumbled, but only slightly before she regained her balance and stood straight again to smile at the general's shocked face. "Bring it on, Lady."

The blue-haired woman growled and dove into a front flip, her right leg snapping up lightning-quick to try to strike Miri in the face and break her jaw. But Miri had other plans, and instead of taking the kick, she caught Kayura's leg, jerking the ankle hard in the opposite direction and listening to the disabling crack rumble like music in her ears. The general yelped in pain, retracting her foot instantly to rub it gently. "You slut! You're mistake!" Kayura informed as she abruptly released her ankle, pulling back her arm to let an unanticipated punch go whizzing into Miri's unprotected face. 

Eclipse hissed with wrath as she almost reciprocated the hit with one of her own. But Miri forced the urge down into her belly; instead, she drew her body up tight and focused her eyes on her prey. Her lips curled into a taut smirk. "Come on, doesn't the little armored whore want to play anymore, now that her friends are gone?"

Miri did not respond. She kept right on grinning, always grinning until her face stung with the fire of her stressed muscles. Her hand tightened its grip on her Bo, and her head drooped like the bowed flower of a dying tulip. Kayura seized the chance to attack, but the moment she proceeded to bring down her jitte upon Eclipse's unmoving form, her whole body froze, unwilling to listen to her mind ordering her to make the kill. "What have you done to me, you little witch!"

Mirichu forced all her thoughts on Kayura, feeling her Awakening take control of her body and soul. And with every ounce of love her body held, Eclipse was able to combat the hatred seething within the Lady, using her overwhelming good to freeze the Dynasty's surprising feeble evil. "Look at you," Miri taunted, circling the motionless general like a hungry vulture, "weak, defenseless, totally vulnerable. How does it feel? Do you savor the wrath filling your veins, empowering your body, or do you loathe the painful stirring of your Master inside you? Does it feel good to know you are as powerless as an infant is without Talpa to assist you? No? Then you are in luck, for perhaps I can help you. Prepare to receive what you've got coming, Lady Kayura. The Day of Reckoning is on hand for the both of us. But at least I know that my afterlife will be sweeter than what I have experienced on this Earth; can't say the same for you unfortunately. Meet your Fate, Dynasty tramp!"

After a quick check to make sure the Ronin Warriors were far enough away, Mirichu stopped back at where she had started her speech, and then she lifted her Eclipse Bo directly before the breastplate of her armor. Beginning an intricate set of twirls and whirls, the warrior spun the elongated baton so expertly that it became nothing but a whipping blur around her body. Abruptly Miri halted it when it was exactly dividing her body in half, leaving one wickedly curled, metal finger pointing directly to the heavens. "Sun Arise!" she ululated in her most proud, defiant tone. The Great Mountains rang with her anger and love. 

At first, there was a silence responding to the call. But then the onyx clouds parted to reveal a shining blue empyrean, with the buttery sun in the precise center. A beam of sunlight illuminated the pair, caressing Miri's face with a motherly touch. Her body warmed, and she heard comforting words relayed through the supernatural gesture. It would all be okay. She needn't fear what was to come next…

The ruby and the topaz radiated a glow from within their cores, twinkling with anxiety. Crimson and saffron energy erupted from them, their streams of colors combining and striking Lady Kayura's heart with a fatal blow. The general cursed Mirichu, but to that she replied, "You cannot curse what is already cursed, foolish woman." This only made Eclipse drive harder into the Lady, until she heard her bones melt and her blood whistle as it came to a rolling boil. Miri, too, heard her own body break down, and she felt her heart bake, not from her attack, but from the Evil that had been prophesized so long ago.

A ochroid dome formed around the doomed two, eating away at half of the mountain, as well, with its acidic energy. Their screams were enveloped within the bubble, their voices useless. Miri bit her lip as hard as she could and wailed for savior from the pain, but she knew only death or turning evil was imminent. Lady Kayura slumped to the ground limp, her limbs and heart dead and her breathing aborted, even as the yellow hue ceaselessly lapped over her. 

Eventually, the power of the attack died down and the golden bulge disappeared into the stones of the Eclipse's staff. It fell to the ground with its user, a hushed thump echoing in the mountains from their falls. 

From a mile away, on the peak of another mountain, the Ronin Warriors watched the battle come to its dramatic conclusion. Even from his distance, Rowen felt the life force in Miri burst from inside her the moment of her attack, then, the second it ended, it dwindled into nothingness. "My god, Miri!" Strata raced along the paved path as fast as he ever had, his adrenaline fed by his terror and shock. He bounded over every obstacle and bit of debris left by "Sun Arise", uncaring of all the ruin. Rowen ran and ran until he reached the foot of the pinnacle of the Great Mountain where the two women had bitterly fought. 

Using all the strength he had inside of him, Rowen sped up the face and clambered over the edge of the cleft to Miri's side. He lifted her into his burning hot arms, rocking her body next to his own. "Mirichu? Oh, Mirichu, can you hear me?"

Her eyelids fluttered open, the green irises looking through him. "Rowen? I didn't die."

"Thank heaven above for that, too, Miri!"

"No! No!" she sat up in protest, ignoring the flaming agony in her spine and all throughout her body. "I can't live! You have to kill me! 'Sun Arise' was my only chance for me to do it myself, and I even failed at that! You have to finish what I started!"

Rowen couldn't believe what he was hearing. What was all this about wanting to die? His precious Mirichu Tenku was gone from his life, and this imposter, this quitter, was lying in his arms instead. "What in the name of God are you talking about? What would possess you to say something that terrible? Is it your intention to hurt me because if it is, it's working!"

"No, Rowen, you don't understand! Prophesy says that 'Once her great battle has ended, the armor of Eclipse will return to the Dynasty and become the most powerful nemesis of good, unbeatable by all means.' Don't you see that if you don't kill me, I will become that evil? This is the only way. When I asked the Ancient if there was another path for me to take to escape this, you know what he said?" Miri paused to catch her breath and fight the blackness, swelling in the basin of her soul. "He said, 'Death is your only sure release.'"

"Then he lied to me, that old bastard! He said he would never lead any of his Ronin Warriors to destruction! So it can't be true, understand? You can fight it! You-"

"No!" she blared, tears flinging off of her beautiful face as she violently shook her head. "There is no way! I have to die! I have already excepted this, so why won't you?"

"Because," Rowen began, joining her tears, "you are my best friend. My life is connected with yours forever. If one dies, so does the other."

"It isn't true. You, Sage, Ryo and the others will go on without me because that's what you have to do. The Ronin Warriors were only meant to have five armors; this tenth armor to the set was never supposed to be revealed. You must go on to defeat the Dynasty and subdue Talpa. This is my Fate! You and I cannot fight this Destiny, no matter how much we want to stay together. Fate doesn't give a damn whether we are best friends or whether we are strangers. She just wants to keep the Tapestry of Life moving along." 

Mirichu shivered visibly, and that's when Rowen noticed it: the blackness, the course evil, making its way up from the boots of her armor. It rotted the pure color of her outfit, eating away at the goodness like a child would a lollipop. "Can you see it already?" she inquired nervously, knowing the deadly look in his eyes. "I can't hold it off much longer, can't you understand that? It doesn't matter how much I love you and the others because nothing can fight this contemptuous rage. Please, I beg you, take Kayura's sword and kill the evil inside me. Don't let me become what I've spent my life fighting; I don't want to be like those dead soldiers, attacking everyone I used to value! Don't make me suffer like that!"

Rowen could feel himself dying, yet also he could feel the hatred for the Ancient, burning within his soul. And he knew that if he kept these thoughts going, his armor would turn black with rot, too, but he couldn't suppress the raging madness. How could someone of such greatness – someone who's virtue was love – become an evil Warlord? It just wasn't right. Rowen knew that if in Miri's position, he would be asking the same of her, but how could he extinguish the life of someone he loved? "I won't, Miri, I can't. I don't want to make you suffer, but there's no way I can plunge a sword into your body!"

"Damn you!" Eclipse belted out, slamming her fists as hard as she could into his chest. "I hate you! I hate you! I'll never forgive for your pitiful weakness! You selfish asshole! All you think is you, you, you! Well what about your 'best friend'? Can't you even grant her her last wish?" Miri pounded into him until all her human strength was exhausted. "I hate you," she whispered feebly. 

Strata scooped her into his arms in his tightest embrace, as though he could squeeze the building evil – now up to her neck – right out of her. "Oh, Mirichu! I'm so sorry! Please-"

But before he could finish his sentence, Miri had changed to the Dynasty – her pure heart now beating black blood instead of red – and was upon him, bearing down with all her weight and preparing to stab him through the heart with Eclipse's Bo. 

The instant prior to the skewering, however, a kantana pierced through her back, protruding through her abdomen. The inky blood spewed brutally from the gaping hole in her stomach, and she dropped her staff to cover it futilely with her hands. With the accompaniment of an inhuman growl, an ebony vapor billowed from her mouth, the smell of decay and death seeping out with it. Her body collapsed onto Rowen's, heavy with the weight of death. Standing where the evil Mirichu once had was Ryo of the Wildfire, his hands shaking and his lip shuddering in revulsion of his betrayal. His breaths were irregular and wheezy, and his knees clanked against each other. "Miri…" he uttered, as if the name were divine and he were too lowly to speak it. "My love, Miri. I'm so sorry…"

Rowen just laid there, agony in his eyes as he looked between his live friend and his dying one murdered by the other. He could still feel the last strains of life breathing out of Mirichu whilst she lay atop him. "Miri, before you go," he choked, finally acknowledging what was happening, "you must know that I lo-"

Her eyes glazed over as she spoke her last words in a raspy voice not her own, but Death's instead. "Shh… I already know…" And she said nothing else as her body gave out its last, her soul escaping through her soft, relaxed lips – lips Rowen had never and would never get a chance to kiss. So tragic for Earth. She had never gotten to live the life she deserved. All of her wonderfulness would go unseen by the rest of the world. Two parents would be without their daughter when they returned from Talpa's Dynasty. Where was the fairness in it all? Fate may have been cruel to him, Rowen realized, but he never had had to deal with what Mirichu Tenku had.

Ryo and Rowen said nothing; they heard nothing; they saw nothing; and they certainly felt nothing. There was no pain, no anger, no fear anymore, just a void, bottomless and all encompassing. Rowen could not even tell what he was doing anymore. He quietly lifted her body and stepped off the edge, trusting that his armor would save him, or even hoping that it didn't. But he landed safely on the highway amidst his friends he could not see, and he just kept walking, all the way into the sun.


	10. Rekindling the Dead Fire

Chapter Ten – Rekindling the Dead Fire ****

Chapter Ten – Rekindling the Dead Fire

The smell of the dew on the grass lingered in the crisp morning air of the low country. The sun had not yet broken the horizon, but the first light of the new day rimmed the edge of the Earth in a watery stretch of canvas. Overhead, Venus glimmered her last – along with accompanying royal court – as the morning would soon overtake her. 

Rowen stared upwards. So beautiful. Sometimes he wished he could return to the heavens and just drift lifelessly in an orbit of the Earth and moon he loved so much. He wanted to let its peace run through his veins once more, much more so than ever before. For now, in the lingering aftermath of the final battle with Talpa, the world had returned to normal – as bustling and crazy as ever. If only he could find that serenity once more…

He looked into the darkness of his wide shadow, the sight of empty field whispering soft melodies enclosing all around him. Here – she had once stood here, next to him, amongst the grasses and the stars. She had once been in his arms here, her tears gushing from her red eyes, fueled by an inner agony. Rowen could still see her shimmering face, aglow with the brilliant, unending light of Venus, and her singsong voice still whistled through the trees in their meadow, a constant reminder of what he could no longer have.

Where was the harmony that was supposed to follow every war – the period of reconstruction where all things united under a common thread, where all the wrongs were made right again and where endings took a happy turn? Where was his Mirichu Tenku? Wasn't she supposed to return from the Land of the Dead once they had eliminated Talpa and his Dynasty? Hadn't that been the unspoken agreement between Rowen and Fate? 

Instead of getting his happy ending, Rowen received only the pain of knowing that the one he loved would never return to share the joy of Talpa's defeat. Miri would never know the good her death had caused, the ironic strength it had given the Ronin Warriors to beat the evil she abhorred. And every morning when he made his trek to this meadow, Rowen cried, cried until his tears ceased to flow and only his mind could sob in the silence – the silence that would not have been there had Miri survived. He would choke on his sorrow and drown in his misery the instant Venus would come into view, and the cycle never stopped, only grew more tortuous as the months stretched languidly by. 

@~~`~~~

Rowen recalled those following days after Mirichu's tragic death as though they were five minutes ago, not five months. After carrying her body down from the Great Mountains, a funeral procession of every Ronin Warrior and Anubis following in close distance in the two jeeps, he had walked in silence with her all the way to their valley eight miles away. His feet felt as though they had never touched the ground the entire walk. Not once did he stop to rest or break, but only did he push himself farther and harder. Rowen could feel his armor's strength being zapped from his own body, but if dying would let him see Miri again, he would have done it. But someone stopped him before he had the chance.

Seeing the desperation and loss in his eyes, Anubis halted one of the jeeps and clambered out, up to Rowen's side. "If you die now, Rowen, I guarantee you will not see Mirichu on the other side. For you have unfinished business on Earth, and unless that is completed, your soul will not reach the spiritual nexus where hers resides. Expect to wander the planet – unseen in your ghostly form – for at least 500 years, searching for good deeds to do to make up for what you did not take care of in your life. 

"How would that be fair to Mirichu, I ask you? She waits eagerly for your arrival in the afterworld, but her patience will only last so long – long enough for you to live your life to the fullest and do all that you were destined to accomplish. 500 years from now, even in the afterworld, her love for you will be dead. You must not let that happen, not if you truly love her. She bestowed upon you a great gift: the gift of a second chance to save Earth. Do not take it, and it shall be like spitting upon her hallowed grave."

The warrior finally suspended his suicide pilgrimage. From his eyes finally burst forth the tears that had gone unshed on the mountain precipice. Droplet after droplet splattered onto Miri's bare face, his tears becoming hers even through the veil of death. The Eclipse helmet loosened on her head and went clattering to the roadway. All of her raven black hair spilled out onto his arms, strands intertwining involuntarily with his fingers. Rowen fell to his knees, bringing her face to his own and gently pressing her cheek to his. "My Mirichu! How I have failed you! I let you die! I killed you! I was never worthy to love someone so giving when I could not return a simple favor! It's my fault, all mine…" he whimpered miserably, uncaring of how the others saw his confession of guilt. 

Ryo bounded to his friend's side, shaking him with all of his pent-up rage. "How dare you put the blame where it doesn't belong! In case you don't remember, I was the one that plunged the sword through Miri's black heart. I did! I did it to kill the evil, not to kill her, too! Don't you see that I was the one who failed. I took away her pain without thinking of another way to save her. I was weak and scared and driven by hatred for Kayura and Talpa. It was recklessness on my part, and look at the consequences!" Ryo released Rowen to reach down and tenderly stroke the woman's forehead with his thumb, pressing so hard on the skin as if to memorize its feel. "Some leader I turned out to be…"

And it went on like that until the gray clouds had turned black, darkened by the oncoming night, as the two bickered uselessly about whom was to blame for the death of Mirichu Tenku of the Armor of the Eclipse. And Rowen recalled that when Anubis had tried to intercede and insist that they get on with the funeral and the burial, the two had verbally attacked him. He had regretted the harsh words that he spoke later, especially when Anubis turned out to be the only person that could help Rowen get on with his life after the devastating shock of losing his best friend, his true love. 

@~~`~~~

The moon overhead let forth the sallowest of colors, sickening the Great Mountains and their Great Valleys. And sometimes, when the winds would blow, nausea would churn Rowen's stomach. It wasn't the actual look of the scene or the feel of the wind, but just the fact that perhaps Miri had surveyed this same landscape with her shining eyes, or perhaps this wind same wind had brushed her silken hair with its invisible fingers. These thoughts lead to bad reactions on Rowen's part, so bad that he often had to leave the area to escape them. 

But today Rowen had decided to stay in their valley and think some more about where his twisted life was heading him and how exactly it was getting him there. He had to confront his fears just like Mirichu had, if he wanted to prove his worthiness of her. The stars above seemed to approve of his plan, for they smiled down at him with their soft, white and yellow eyes, smiles twinkling with starry light.

Another breeze flew by, and upon it he heard the Ancient One's knowing voice, one with which he had recently become very familiar. After the devastating loss of Mirichu Tenku during the battle with Lady Kayura, Rowen had progressed to the point where the mere thought of the Ancient made him sick with anger. He had become bitter and resentful toward the old man in the reed hat, and often he would openly curse him when he was present within the room.

@~~`~~~

"Rowen," he said, surprising the young man, for the Ancient had never called him by just his first name before. "Listen to me!"

"I have nothing to say to traitors, liars, manipulators, KILLERS!" Rowen raged, pointing an accusing finger at the old man in the reed hat. 

"You must listen to me, Strata, if you want to know why I did all that I did. You heart needs to know the answers to these burning riddles within you, and only I can supply them. I can finally reply to all the questions you may wish to ask."

"Oh, well, thanks for being so kind and generous about it," he spat sarcastically. 

"Ask me anything, Rowen of Strata, anything. No questions now? Hmm, let me think. You wanted to know whose life aura that belonged to that day you went down for a swim in the valley? Honestly, that was the human embodiment of the Incarnation Fate. She had come to take away more of the growing life within Mirichu. I know that is mind-boggling, but Fate, ever since Mirichu was a baby, had been collecting her essence because she did not want the girl to fight her when her time came. She wanted the young warrior to merely accept her Destiny and come without qualms. Any other questions?"

"Fine!" He was so angered by the Ancient's flat tone as he spoke of Miri that Rowen slammed his fist into the coffee table as hard as he could, splinters of wood driving deep into the meat of his hand. However, the pain was nothing compared to what he already felt driving deep into his heart. Betrayed by his mentor. His love gone. Nothing could hurt worse. "You—You tell me WHY! You tell me why Mirichu isn't here today with the rest of us, gearing up to fight the Master himself. You tell me, and you do it NOW!"

The Ancient tipped his hat back over his pearl-white hair, his amazing eyes coming into view for the first time ever. "She is not here because she is dead."

The black wrath squirmed inside at this horrific statement. The knife within his back spiraled even deeper, his soul bleeding from the wound. "How dare you, old man! I should hit you for your rotten disrespect of the dead!"

"But it is the truth. Mirichu is dead. She died before Lady Kayura ever came into play, you could not tell?"

"What are you prattling on about?"

"She died the day the legend of the Armor of the Eclipse was prophesized – within the dank corridors of a wise man's cave in the Great Mountains. You must understand first that Mirichu was born dead, therefore making it easier for the transition into the afterlife following her ultimate sacrifice."

"Never! Miri was a bright, enthusiastic girl. I want to know what happened to the girl I knew and loved."

"Mirichu Tenku was the girl you knew. Setsuka, the wearer of the Armor of the Eclipse, was the girl I knew. I did nothing to Mirichu, albeit, I did train Eclipse. I trained her to be the supreme Ronin, in both the lives of Mirichu and Setsuka, the original wearer of the armor. But she was never supposed to fight unless the situation was dire or, unfortunately, Fate demanded her blood offering in order to save the spilling of so many others'. I had expected the latter though, for the wise man of which I spoke forewarned me of this horrific disaster."

Rowen's eyes flared, and he could feel his anger reaching the boiling point. Never had his heart consumed so much hatred for one man before. "So, you knew all along about Mirichu's death, and you never even seeped a warning to her, telling her to stay away for her own good? How cruel and vicious a man you are! How could I ever trust a demon like you?"

"Demon? Hardly. And as for Mirichu's knowledge of her Fate, she knew all the time. Unbeknownst to her – in the beginning of her life – Eclipse's Destiny was sealed the second the hellish armor was forged. But as time grew and the legend unfurled, the memories of her prophesized future instated themselves, so that even as you two played on the swing sets of your school playground, even then Mirichu knew of her imminent death."

"An even worse Fate than death! How could anyone haunt a child so young with images of her own demise? And all this time she knew and never told me! The pain she must of felt! The thousands of times she must have cried herself to sleep, and with no one for her to share her agony!"

"She needed not even you, Rowen. She was far stronger than any of you Ronins will ever be. Mirichu's faith in love and the human spirit was enough to give her the strength to complete the mission assigned to her 1000 years before she was even born. You cannot begin to understand this all now. Perhaps once the importance and necessity of her sacrifice has sunk in, then will I explain the entire sordid tale to you…"

Rowen was not going to let the slippery fish slide away now. If he ever wanted to learn what had driven his best friend, his true love, then he needed answers today. "No! You will tell me right now! I can't just keep going on without knowing how our past lives were, how Miri's entire life was. If I can ever reach an understanding about Mirichu's life, I want to start now. I want to know what made my friend who she REALLY was, not the façade she always wore before me."

"That was never a façade. Mirichu loved you with all of her heart. Everything she did was for you. You, Rowen, were the one person she could trust with anything, the one person she could love with her whole heart without fear of rejection. But the armor within also knew that you could not handle this responsibility. Perhaps it even knew of the way that you would try to stop it from carrying out its task. That is why Mirichu never told you about all of this: because your love would try and influence her duty. She was terribly torn, I'm afraid, and only Death himself could release her from that torture.

"So you say you want to know about your past lives and Mirichu's secret identity? Are you sure you can handle what I'm about to tell you?"

Rowen stared at his feet, bracing himself for the Ancient's information. "As ready as I will ever be."

The old man in the reed hat tilted the brim of his hat over his face once more, concealing his expressions again to the young, lost Ronin. "So be it…"

@~~`~~~

And the Ancient had spent all night trying to explain the prophecy of Mikisutori, a wise man from the time of Talpa's first invasion. Through all the tears – shed and unshed – Rowen finally discovered what power the ten armors really held. 

Ten. Ten! He could hardly believe that there was a tenth armor. His entire existence Rowen had believed there had only been nine great armors derived from Talpa's one all-powerful armor. That's what everyone had believed because that was the way the Ancient had wanted it. If ever Talpa should return and capture the known nine armors, he still could never achieve full power. That was the reason the Armor of the Eclipse was kept secret. If Talpa did not know it existed, he could not take it and gain his unimaginable power, and, therefore, he could be defeated. 

But there was another reason the Ancient One had kept the tenth armor such a closely guarded secret; he didn't want the prophecy of Mikisutori to become history. For his prophecy spoke of great sadness and loss for all of the Ronins and the world, but especially for one man in particular: the wearer of the Armor of the Strata. It foretold of the great battle with the mysterious female general from the Dynasty and the death of the woman who wore the Armor of the Eclipse. Moreover, it also mentioned of the unfinished love affair between Strata and Eclipse. Mikisutori told the Ancient that their love would be like no other's, and yet it would remain unspoken of and shrouded by duty until the Day of Eclipse's Reckoning. The Ancient did not want to torment any of his valuable samurai, especially Strata, with this information until that day. And so it was that Eclipse was meticulously hidden from even the Ronin Warriors, its utter secrecy maintained for 1000 years. No one, not even Talpa knew it existed. Until just a few months ago. 

Now Rowen knew the painful truth and wished he had never asked about it, but at least he had come to understand Mirichu's ways more. 

So there love had been fated. When she had told him that day of the battle that she loved Ryo, not him, it had been a lie. Miri had always loved him and no other, despite what she said. On the same token, she knew that he had always loved her. And yet they never made one romantic move toward each other, not even when she died in his arms. They had never spoken of their love, never even kissed once! Oh sure, they had hugged each other, came close to breaking through the boundaries of their accursed Fates, but never for even a second did they truly make it through to one another, to find their souls intertwined by their predestined love. And so they forever remained at the distance that was safe enough for them to care like they were just friends but not suggest that they were lovers. 

And now everyday for the rest of his miserable life Rowen had to live with the knowledge that true happiness was within his grasp at all times, but he had never taken the chance to reach out and touch it. His curse was almost equal to the one under which Mirichu had unfortunately fallen.

Presently, with the dying of the another midnight and the birth of another dawn, Rowen stood with the letter in his hand, the white slip of parchment dyed scarlet with the rays of the morning sun. 

He had unearthed the paper after the burial of his Mirichu Tenku as he helped the others empty out Miri's abandoned house. Actually, Cye was the one who found it, but once he read to whom it was addressed, he passed it around the room until it landed in the hands of the man to whom it belonged. "To my dearest Rowen" the simple white envelope read in fine gold Japanese characters – the familiar, delicate writing of his lost beloved. 

Still Rowen had yet to open it and read its contents. He was too afraid of what it might say. The letter had remained affixed for these past five months, and he didn't think he would ever be able to tear away the red wax seal to discover what was inside. 

The sudden rustle of the parting trees behind him sent cold shivers down Rowen's spine. Someone was there. Who could it be? The only people that ever came to this field were Mirichu, the Ancient and himself. Even then, the Ancient never came in the mornings, but only to meditate during the daytime.

It can't be her! he screamed at himself. She's dead! You held in your arms as she died! For god sake, you buried the woman! Mirichu is dead! 

Rowen found himself frozen. The Dynasty Warlords had long since been destroyed in the last battle. In fact, in a fit of sheer rage, he had plunged Kale's own sword through his chest, watching with delight as its blood-smeared tip protruded through his back. Dais had fallen under Kento's Iron Rock Crusher combined with Sage's Thunderbolt Cut. And Talpa had been defeated by the Inferno Armor – an armor worn by Ryo that had mysteriously appeared once all five Ronin armors conjoined. There was no one left to know he was here. 

He felt a gentle hand touch his shoulder. With that movement, Rowen could feel his body come alive with motion again, and he was able to turn his head to see the two men standing beside him. Sage and Ryo looked on at the horizon, distant tears shimmering in both men's eyes. "You still haven't opened it," Sage noted, staring at the envelope in his friend's quaking hand. 

"No, I haven't."

"Why not? Aren't you curious as to what it might say?"

"Of course I am, but I'm just so afraid to know." His eyes darted from the sky to Sage's confused face. "What if she says that worthless? Or worse yet, what if she blames me for not being capable enough to save her? There are so many things. I can't face her right now-"

"Mirichu's dead, Rowen. Why should you fear her?" Sage informed as though Rowen did not know this.

"I wish you wouldn't talk like that about her."

"You make it sound like she is still alive. She's not though. You need to understand that. Miri isn't just going to stop by one day out of the blue so you can go swimming in the lake. And she certainly isn't going to show up here to watch the sunrise with you anymore."

"I wasn't expecting her to."

Ryo leaned forward to glance Rowen over quickly. "You lie. I saw the way stood here before we came. I saw the way you stood so rigid, as if waiting for her to comment about Venus or the moon or something."

"Is that what drives you to come here every morning, Rowen?" Sage drilled. 

"No. I came to this meadow even before Miri even knew about it."

"Are you sure you're not just clinging to the insane hope that one morning Mirichu will simply show up beside you and whisper how much she's missed you right before she kisses you and says she will never leave you again?"  


"No!" he roared at his best friends although he glared angrily at the shining Venus instead. His burning tears made their familiar trail over the brim of his eyes, snaking down his softened cheeks. The light from the morning star was so brilliant, as Mirichu once said. So beautiful. He wondered at what point the planet had stopped being just that – a planet – and become his Miri immortalized in the heavens he adored. "No! When Miri shows up, I'm the one that's going to kiss her first and tell her how much I've missed her and how I'll never let her leave me again. I'm the one who's going to tell her exactly how much I love her and how I was a fool to not tell her in the first place. She's just going to let me hold her until the sands in the hourglass run out for us both, and when that time finally comes she's going to say to me: 'I'm sorry I left you cold and alone, Rowen. But now we can be together forever, just like our hearts always wanted.' And I'll kiss her lips until we both die in each other's embrace." His shoulders shook with fury and sorrow. Rowen knew this dream was nothing but exactly that: a dream. But he just couldn't help believing that someday his patience would pay off, and in his arms would be his sweet Mirichu. 

"Read the letter, Rowen. Do it, and do it now. Don't waste another minute of your life waiting for the impossible to happen," Ryo ordered.

The sun broke above the mountains, an egg pouring its sticky goo upon the dewy Earth. And just as that egg cracked, so did all of Rowen's hope for Miri's glorious return. 

With a heavy sigh of longing, Rowen tore into the envelope, wasting the outside to get to the all-important middle – like a child with candy. He shredded the paper with a pent-up ferocity, one he refused to release upon his fellow Ronin Warriors. It hardly mattered. With each rip, Rowen could feel his own nails clawing, as though the envelope was his own skin.

"My dearest Rowen,

Where should I begin? What comforting words should I write that might lessen the pain? I don't think there are any in existence. Obviously, if you are reading this letter of mine, then the prophecy of Mikisutori-san has been fulfilled. I have passed on to the afterlife, leaving you, I am sure, anguished and in denial. I guess this letter is supposed to help comfort you, this being the only legacy I can leave behind. So forgive me if all I can offer you is this slip of paper with a little bit of me wrapped in it. I'd hoped to leave you something more, but what do I have that you want? 

You know, I've always wondered that. What did I ever possess that made such a remarkable person like yourself want to be near me? I never had much money, or fantastic beauty, or a big house; so why did you ever like me? All I ever knew was a life where somebody only pretended to like me because they wanted something in return. But when I met you, oh so long ago it seems, you changed all that. Rowen, you were the one person that never asked me any 'favors' and never demanded 'payment'. Instead, all you did was give, give, give to me. How was I to repay you for that? No money could ever show just how much your friendship and love meant to me. 

And so naturally, when the Ancient One approached me about my armor three years ago – before you even dreamt of yours – I finally discovered a way to show you how deeply my love for you ran. I decided to accept my Destiny as Eclipse, Bringer of Love and Hope (the official title) and give the ultimate sacrifice one can to demonstrate the way I cared for you. 

Perhaps you are mad at the Ancient One for not telling you about this, but understand that I knew of my Fate long before he had even told me about it. I was born with this knowledge of my death, and he never ordered me to it. Also, you must know, Rowen, that the Ancient One had always pushed me to tell you, saying that if you knew, maybe in time you would grow to accept and conform to this alignment of Fates. Ah, but I knew you too well. At every corner, just like a big brother, you would try to persuade me, if not attempt to stop these events from occurring. You would never think of the consequences that delaying the inevitable would bring. Then were would the world be? Annihilated? Invaded? Poisoned? Or possibly worse? And all for the sake of a love that was destined yet also destined to be destroyed!

And so now I write this letter to help give you peace, to let you know that where ever I am, I am happy. Granted, I may not be as happy here as I would be if I were in your arms, but I am happy. And at least my death has allowed me the freedom to say the words that my life would never have let me speak:

I love you.

Eternally yours,

Mirichu."

It was silent. Ryo and Sage fought their urges to say anything to the man beside them. The moment could not be spoiled for Rowen at any cost. He needed time to assimilate all that he had read, the meaning of the characters. He had to understand that Mirichu Tenku was dead in body yet stayed alive within him as a spirit for the rest of eternity.

The forest closed in around them, the trees hungry for comfort and love. The grasses snuggled closer to hide their sorrows. The fireflies shuddered against the three men's bodies for warmth in the suddenly cold air. The remaining stars, dwindling in the fire of the sun, belched their apologies across the light years with their gaseous voices. And of course, only Rowen of the Strata could hear them all. Such was his blessing, his curse, his Fate. 

There, in the hidden meadow amidst the towering Great Mountains, the three most important men in Mirichu's life stood. Sage, the man who had loved her in the past was on the end. Ryo, the man who loved her now leaned on Sage's shoulder. And Rowen, the man who had always loved her, from one eon to the next, across miles of sky and between the haze of life and death trembled alone in his spot – the little clearing in the expanse of high weeds. 

The characters on the paper dripped onto his hands, entering his fingertips and making their way to his brain on a flowing current of blood. When they made it there, Rowen finally understood it all. 

Miri loved him.

Rowen of the Strata let a single, crystalline tear fall from his lashes and splatter onto the dirt of Miri's grave before his feet. His eyes turned to the sky, reddening with ancient flames, and he spoke to the great planet Venus as though she were a real person. "I love you, too!" His call was heard for miles as he screamed it so loud so that the message would be carried up to her on the wings of unseen angels. 

And in a split second, Venus disappeared from the heavens, swallowed up by her mother. But not before answering him back. "I already know…"

The End


End file.
